Tucker Carlson Breaks Silence After Fox News Departure: 'Retirement Is Going Great'
Just one day after his shocking ouster from Fox News after 14 years at the network, Tucker Carlson broke his silence and shared what the future holds for him. The immediate future, anyway.
A reporter with the Daily Mail is said to have spotted the provocative firebrand riding in a golf cart Tuesday night on his way out to dinner with his wife of 32 years, Susan. The outlet reported that Carlson stopped for a brief chat with the reporter not far from his Boca Grande, Florida, home, a compound situated in an exclusive enclave of Florida's Gasparilla Island.
"Retirement is going great," Carlson chuckled. "I haven't eaten dinner with my wife on a weeknight in seven years."
Carlson, who shares four children with Susan, is said to have flashed a smile and joked when pressed about his future.
"Appetizers plus entree," Tucker told the outlet before taking off on his golf cart.
The Daily Mail also reported that Carlson's executive producer, Justin Wells (who also was recently axed from the network), was spotted at Carlson's home. It's unclear what they're plotting next, but a source told the outlet that Carlson is not expected to do anything significant while his attorney negotiates Carlson's exit package with the network. Carlson's attorney, Bryan Freedman, is also representing former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who also was fired moments after Carlson's ouster was announced in a terse three-paragraph statement. Freedman is also representing Chris Cuomo in his $125 million wrongful termination lawsuit against CNN.
Carlson had been at the helm of Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016, and had been a fixture at the network since joining as a contributor in 2009. The 53-year-old's exit came as a shock to everyone at the network, including him.
"Colleagues of Tucker are shocked and many found out about the news like the rest of the world, on Twitter," a source told ET. "Tucker made no indication he was leaving to anyone and on Friday told everyone he’d see them Monday for a new show. People at Fox News are looking for answers as to what happened and are waiting to hear.”
The news came not long after CBS News reported that the network agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the defamation case Dominion brought against them for claiming on-air that they helped rig the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump. But former CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter told ET that he believes Fox didn't fire Carlson as a result of the settlement, but rather because of messages that came to light amid the case.
"Some of the emails and text messages from Tucker Carlson that came out before the trial were really embarrassing, but... there were a lot of messages still being redacted for public view and I believe there's material in those private messages that was incredibly ugly," he explained. "It gave Fox a reason to remove Carlson."
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