Tucker Carlson news – live: ‘Blindsided’ Fox News host was negotiating new contract when Murdoch fired him
“Blindsided” Tucker Carlson was in the midst of negotiating a new contract with Fox News when he received a call from CEO Suzanne Scott on Monday morning telling him he had been fired from the right-wing network, according to a report.
Fox News announced that it had “parted ways” with its biggest star on Monday, days after settling a $787m defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over lies about the 2020 presidential election.
Insiders told Vanity Fair that Carlson was caught off guard by the news and had recently been negotiating his contract renewal through 2029.
The order for his firing is believed to have come directly from Rupert Murdoch.
On Monday night, his “Tucker Carlson Tonight” show was instantly replaced with “Fox News Tonight” hosted by Brian Kilmeade, who brushed over Carlson’s sudden departure.
“As you probably have heard, Fox News and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” he said.
“I wish Tucker the best. I’m great friends with Tucker and always will be. But right now, it’s time for ‘Fox News Tonight,’ so let’s get started.”
Carlson leaves behind a legacy of bringing far-right ideas and racism to mainstream audiences.
Key Points
Tucker Carlson and Fox News ‘part ways’ days after network settles major defamation suit
Don Lemon out at CNN
Tucker Carlson’s final days at Fox News: Dominion bombshells, Elon Musk and eating bugs
AOC and Jon Stewart lead reaction to Tucker Carlson’s Fox exit
WATCH: Tucker Carlson’s final words before leaving Fox News
What the Tucker Carlson Dominion texts said about Trump
10:00 , Alex Woodward
Tucker Carlson’s name was all over court filings fromDominion Voting Systems, the company that launched a massive defamation suit against Fox News over the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump’s bogus claims that the contest was “rigged” against him. Fox settled with Dominion for an eye-popping $787m. Now Carlson himself is out at the network.
Dominion’s filings also appear to reveal about Carlson’s attitude towards Trump himself, whom he regularly defended on air throughout his presidency and its aftermath.
What the Tucker Carlson Dominion texts said about Trump
Fox News has kept ‘dirt file’ on Carlson: report
09:45 , Rachel Sharp
Fox News has held onto a so-called “dirt file” on Tucker Carlson that it can use as ammunition if the fired host decides to go on the attack against the right-wing network, according to a report.
Multiple sources told Rolling Stone that Fox News and its communications department has a dossier of damaging information on the man who, until Monday, was its top star.
It includes issues of “workplace conduct, disparaging comments about management and colleagues, and allegations that the now-former primetime host created a toxic work environment,” the magazine reported.
The network is ready to release some of the damaging information if Carlson appears to be planning to retaliate against his former employee.
Fox News denied the files’ existence to Rolling Stone.
Greene faces wave of mockery after saying she ‘stands with Tucker Carlson’
09:30 , Namita Singh
Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene faced a wave of mockery after saying that she supports Tucker Carlson following his ouster at Fox News.
The news of Mr Carlson’s abrupt firing broke on Monday. He was reportedly let go following a direct order from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, according to the LA Times.
A large number of Mr Carlson’s private communications were revealed during the discovery process of the defamation lawsuit against the network by Dominion Voting Systems.
Gustaf Kilander reports:
Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked after saying she ‘stands with Tucker Carlson’
09:00 , Alex Woodward
‘Tucker Carlson reshaped the Republican Party in his own image
The Independent’s Washington chief Eric Garcia explains the grip that Tucker Carlson and his brand have had in Republican politics:
Liberals may be tempted to celebrate his demise while conservatives may express utter disbelief that a cash cow like Carlson could be dropped so unceremoniously. Undoubtedly, Carlson will be replaced by someone even more right-wing, someone who knows how to pluck the right notes of white grievance that enchants and entrances the primetime viewer slot on Fox, just as Carlson did when he assumed the throne from its previous occupant, Bill O’Reilly.
But Carlson’s footprint on the modern-day Republican Party cannot be erased.
Tucker Carlson reshaped the Republican Party in his own image
Why did Fox News fire Tucker Carlson? Here are five theories
08:30 , Namita Singh
Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News.
After the dueling choruses of doomsayers and giddy celebrants died down on Monday, the question of why Carlson was reportedly fired still lingered.
While there is no definitive answer to that question at the moment, my colleague Graig Graziosi lists few contenders that – in part or in full – may explain why the conservative cable news network axed its biggest star without giving him so much as a goodbye tweet.
Why did Fox News fire Tucker Carlson? Here are five theories
Tucker Carlson’s last week at Fox News
08:00 , Alex Woodward
A high-profile defamation trial in Delaware and motions in a lawsuit targeting his Tucker Carlson Tonight workplace kicked off what would be the host’s final week at Fox News.
In the meantime, he returned to the 8pm slot each night with his furious monologues and conspiracy theories piped into millions of televisions around the country, characterised as a nation under siege by Democratic officials and the violent mobs under their command. Tucker Carlson Tonight ended with several boxes of pizza across his desk while he promoted a documentary winking at a far-right conspiracy theory that world leaders want people to eat bugs.
Tucker Carlson’s final days at Fox: Dominion bombshells, Elon Musk and eating bugs
OAN throws offer at Carlson after Fox News exit
07:30 , Namita Singh
Right-wing channel One America News Network threw an open offer at Tucker Carlson days after his exit from Fox News.
“Tucker Carlson Leaves Fox Nation,” the network tweeted. “Maybe Fox News’ loss could be OANN‘s gain, Founder and CEO Rob Herring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation.”
Tucker Carlson Leaves Fox Nation
Maybe Fox News' loss could be @OANN's gain, Founder and CEO @RobHerring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation.https://t.co/O5KmsPyhyx#OAN #TuckerCarlson #FauxNews #FoxNews @TuckerCarlson pic.twitter.com/MEU3f5CG77— One America News (@OANN) April 24, 2023
‘Tucker Carlson set out to end my career. I don’t feel badly for him’
07:00 , Alex Woodward
Christina Wyman, who declined an invitation to appear on Tucker Carlson Tonight in 2017, writes for The Independent:
It didn’t take much research to learn that this invitation was a cloak for something darker – something that could have, and likely would have, negatively altered the course of my life for the foreseeable future. In only a few clicks, I saw how Carlson had made a sport out of conducting pseudo-interviews that resulted in siccing his followers on anyone who dared to publicly care about social progress.
Tucker Carlson set out to end my career. I don’t feel badly for him
Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon hire same lawyer after the exit
06:30 , Namita Singh
Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson who departed from Fox News and CNN respectively had reportedly hired Bryan Freedman as their attorney to navigate the exits.
A popular lawyer, Mr Freedman has a track record of getting multimillion-dollar settlements for TV stars, reported the New York Times.
He represents former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who is seeking $125m claiming wrongful terminating in 2021 and helped Megyn Kelly secure a payout of full contract after she left NBC.
‘It’s about time’: Head of Anti-Defamation League welcomes Carlson’s departure
06:00 , Alex Woodward
The so-called “great replacement theory” amplified by far-right extremists invokes a violent, antisemitic and racist conspiracy theory central to white supremacism, that white people are targeted for “replacement” with immigrants, people of colour and Muslims as part of a Jewish plot.
The conspiracy theory also fuelled hate-driven acts of violence, including massacres in El Paso, Texas and Buffalo, New York.
Tucker Carlson has repeatedly nodded to the conspiracy theory in Fox News segments. An analysis from The New York Times found 400 instances in which Carlson suggested that Democratic officials are trying to force a demographic change to improve their election chances. Members of Congress have also called on Fox and its leadership to stop amplifying the theory.
Jonathan Greenblatt, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, has repeatedly joined voices calling for Carlson’s removal.
“It’s about time,” he said on Monday. “For far too long, Tucker Carlson has used his primetime show to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to millions. [ADL] has long called for his firing for this and many other offenses, including spreading the Great Replacement Theory.”
It's about time. For far too long, Tucker Carlson has used his primetime show to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to millions. @ADL has long called for his firing for this and many other offenses, including spreading the Great Replacement Theory. https://t.co/06LjNYYnpY
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) April 24, 2023
Fox News ratings plummets after Carlson’s departure
05:38 , Namita Singh
Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News led to the plummeting of the channel’s prime time rating on Monday while breathing life into its competitor, according to a report.
The channel drew an average of 2.6 million viewers, reported CNN, citing Nielsen Media Research. The difference was sizeable compared to Carlson’s when a total of 3.2 million viewers tuned into the channel on 17 April, when he was hosting.
On the other hand, Newsmax, which had an average of 146,000 viewers at 8 pm, last Monday, saw a three-fold jump of 531,000 after Carlson was taken off air this week.
Why were cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon ousted?
04:45 , Namita Singh
Two media industry bombshells went off within minutes of each other on Monday 24 April, with two of the biggest names in the cable news business abruptly leaving their respective perches.
At Fox News, the conservative culture warrior Tucker Carlson is out after dominating the channel’s primetime lineup for more than a half decade.
And at CNN, morning host Don Lemon’s tenure came to a sudden end despite his years as the face of the network’s New Year’s Eve celebration coverage.
Read this report from John Bowden on why they were fired:
Why were cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon ousted?
Tucker Carlson set out to end my career. I don’t feel badly for him
04:40 , Namita Singh
If I can thank Tucker Carlson for anything, it’s for bursting the blissfully ignorant bubble I had been living in prior to knowing his name, writes Christina Wyman.
Tucker Carlson set out to end my career. I don’t feel badly for him
Greene faces wave of mockery after saying she ‘stands with Tucker Carlson’
04:34 , Namita Singh
Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene faced a wave of mockery after saying that she supports Tucker Carlson following his ouster at Fox News.
The news of Mr Carlson’s abrupt firing broke on Monday. He was reportedly let go following a direct order from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, according to the LA Times.
A large number of Mr Carlson’s private communications were revealed during the discovery process of the defamation lawsuit against the network by Dominion Voting Systems.
Gustaf Kilander reports:
Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked after saying she ‘stands with Tucker Carlson’
Fired Fox producer says Tucker Carlson made her life ‘a living hell’
04:32 , Namita Singh
Abby Grossberg, the former Fox News producer who is suing the network, said Tuesday that Tucker Carlson and his executive producer were responsible making her life a “living hell” when she worked for them.
Ms Grossberg, who was fired by Fox shortly after filing a pair of lawsuits against the network earlier this year, said during an appearance on MSNBC that Carlson’s sudden termination by Fox on Monday left her with mixed emotions.
“There were feelings first of ‘Yes!’ and then also the reality that you don’t want anything bad to happen to anybody,” Ms Grossberg said.
Report:
Fired Fox producer says Tucker Carlson made her life ‘a living hell’
Tucker who? Fox News hosts avoid Carlson’s name after he’s kicked from network
04:19 , Namita Singh
The day he was fired, Tucker Carlson was nearly invisible on the Fox News prime-time lineup that he used to dominate.
“We’re not talking about him,” former colleague Sean Hannity said in one of the two very brief mentions of Carlson’s name on Fox News on Monday night. “I don’t have any details on it. He had a massive audience and he had a huge following.”
In contrast, his ouster was the lead story on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts.
More in this report:
Tucker who? Fox News hosts avoid Carlson’s name after he’s kicked from network
The real reason Carlson should have been fired
04:18 , Namita Singh
Lies over the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election appear to be what finally finished off Tucker Carlson at Fox News. But the TV showman was an equal opportunist when it came to disinformation.
Carlson was axed on Monday, days after Fox agreed to pay $787.5m to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over false election claims.
No topic was off-limits for wild, unsubstantiated claims including electoral voting machines, Covid vaccines, migrants, racial justice protesters, abortion rights and gun control.
But he will also be remembered as one of the most prolific disseminators of misinformation on the climate crisis in recent memory, writes our senior climate correspondent Louise Boyle.
The real reason Tucker Carlson should have been fired
Lavrov brings up Carlson's firing at UN
04:01 , Namita Singh
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov brought up Tucker Carlson’s firing at the United Nations on Tuesday.
“It’s curious news,” Mr Lavrov said. “What is this related to? One can only guess, but clearly, the wealth of views in the American information space has suffered as a result.”
Carlson was let go on Monday, less than a week after Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787m for airing bogus claims of voter fraud following the 2020 election.
Four theories why Fox and Tucker Carlson agreed to ‘part ways'
04:00 , Alex Woodward
The question of why, exactly, Fox News said goodbye to Tucker Carlson is on everyone’s mind.
It seems Carlson might not even know the answer to that question; Vanity Fair reports that Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott would not reveal to him the exact reason why he was being let go.
The Independent’s Graig Graziosi looks at several reasons why Carlson have been too toxic to keep on the payroll:
Why did Fox News fire Tucker Carlson? Here are four theories
Tucker Carlson snags a job offer... from Russian state-owned media
03:00 , Alex Woodward
It didn’t take long for Tucker Carlson to land a job offer after losing his primetime slot on the most-watched cable news network in the country.
Within hours after Fox News announced that the network agreed to “part ways” with the far-right nationalist pundit on Monday morning, Russian state media personalities and propaganda outlets opened their doors.
Putin-linked propagandists trolled American media with their bid for the ousted far-right pundit’s attention, courting Carlson on television and in an email pleading for the now-former Fox News host to join Russia-1.
Russian state-owned media figures offer Tucker Carlson a job
'Tucker Carlson reshaped the Republican Party in his own image
01:00 , Alex Woodward
The Independent’s Washington chief Eric Garcia explains the grip that Tucker Carlson and his brand have had in Republican politics:
Liberals may be tempted to celebrate his demise while conservatives may express utter disbelief that a cash cow like Carlson could be dropped so unceremoniously. Undoubtedly, Carlson will be replaced by someone even more right-wing, someone who knows how to pluck the right notes of white grievance that enchants and entrances the primetime viewer slot on Fox, just as Carlson did when he assumed the throne from its previous occupant, Bill O’Reilly.
But Carlson’s footprint on the modern-day Republican Party cannot be erased.
Tucker Carlson reshaped the Republican Party in his own image
Tucker Carlson’s climate problem
Tuesday 25 April 2023 23:30 , Alex Woodward
Tucker Carlson Tonight was a hotbed of fossil-fuel industry talking points, wackadoo conspiracy theories and monologues interwoven with racist, misogynistic, xenophobic and homophobic material.
He claimed that the “existence of winter disproves the science of climate change”; called climate science a “state religion”; said scientists and activists “bully” people like him and “hate the Earth... hate nature.”
His most reliable framing was “you vs them,” which he also applied to the climate crisis and the environment.
The Independent’s chief climate correspondent Louise Boyle writes:
The real reason Tucker Carlson should have been fired
Full story: Fired Fox producer says Tucker Carlson made her life ‘a living hell’
Tuesday 25 April 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward
Abby Grossberg, the former Fox News producer who is suing the network, said Tuesday that Tucker Carlson and his executive producer were responsible making her life a “living hell” when she worked for them.
Ms Grossberg, who was fired by Fox shortly after filing a pair of lawsuits against the network earlier this year, said during an appearance on MSNBC that Carlson’s sudden termination by Fox on Monday left her with mixed emotions.
Fired Fox producer says Tucker Carlson made her life ‘a living hell’
Your guide to the rotating cast of Fox’s interim ‘Fox News Tonight'
Tuesday 25 April 2023 22:30 , Alex Woodward
Tucker Carlson Tonight is no longer. Instead, Fox is keeping an interim Fox News Tonight with lineup of hosts in the coveted 8pm slot formerly held by the network’s most-watched host.
Media Matters’ Kat Abuhazaleh, who has owned the Tucker Carlson beat at the right-wing media watchdog, has this guide to the likely hosts of the primetime position:
Fox News is implementing rotating hosts each week until they officially pick Tucker’s replacement.
So I made a quick guide to some of Fox’s weird little background characters you’ll probably meet over the next few months: pic.twitter.com/Ga1lWIV6S3— Kat Abu (@abughazalehkat) April 25, 2023
Fox News ratings dipped without Carlson. Newsmax saw a flood of new viewers
Tuesday 25 April 2023 22:15 , Alex Woodward
Last Monday, Tucker Carlson Tonight had roughly 3.2 million viewers.
A week later, in that time slot, with Brian Kilmeade, ratings dipped slightly, with 2.6 million viewers.
But over on Newsmax, a far-right network that has a much smaller audience compared to the Fox behemoth, the number of viewers tripled.
A new phase of the cable news wars is ON: When Carlson was canned, Newsmax's ratings spiked, since some of his fans wanted to protest Fox. Newsmax had double, then TRIPLE its usual audience. Their #'s are still much, much lower than Fox, but this is a major moment for Newsmax.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 25, 2023
WHAT'S INTERESTING, is that Newsmax saw a big ratings BOOST last night. Their 8pm hour averaged 531k total viewers.
Last Monday, pre-Carlson cancelation, Newsmax averaged just 146k viewers at 8pm. The Monday before? 209k. And the Monday before that? 220k.— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) April 25, 2023
Abby Grossberg has 90 recordings from her time at Fox News
Tuesday 25 April 2023 22:00 , Alex Woodward
Former producer Abby Grossberg, who was fired in the aftermath of a lawsuit against Fox News, said she has 90 recordings from her time at the network, which she alleges was marked by widespread toxicity, sexism and bigotry.
She said she couldn’t say whether her bombshell lawsuit may have something to do with Tucker Carlson’s firing, but she said his departure shows that “when you have truth on your side and you stand up for yourself, people will listen.”
“For now that’s what I’m taking with it,” she said.
Abby Grossberg says that while she suspects her harassment lawsuit against Fox could "have something" to do with Carlson's firing, she cannot assert it as fact. pic.twitter.com/dfY5ws3Unm
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) April 25, 2023
Former Fox producer who sued network said Carlson’s programme made her life a living hell
Tuesday 25 April 2023 21:30 , Alex Woodward
Abby Grossberg – who has accused Fox News andTucker Carlson Tonight of fostering a toxic work environment while working as a producer on the show – said the host and a top producer who was also fired were responsible for “breaking” her.
“And making my life a living hell,” she told MSNBC.
Their departure from the network brings some “justice” but “it’s only partial,” she said.
Former Fox Producer Abby Grossberg says Tucker Carlson and Justin Wells were responsible for "breaking" her and making her life "a living hell." pic.twitter.com/ognlgPmU9E
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) April 25, 2023
Tucker Carlson’s last days at Fox News
Tuesday 25 April 2023 21:07 , Alex Woodward
An imminent defamation trial in Delaware and motions in a lawsuit targeting his Tucker Carlson Tonight workplace kicked off what would be the host’s final week at Fox News.
In the meantime, he returned to the 8pm slot each night with his furious monologues and conspiracy theories piped into millions of televisions around the country, characterised as a nation under siege by Democratic officials and the violent mobs under their command. Tucker Carlson Tonight ended with several boxes of pizza across his desk while he promoted a documentary winking at a far-right conspiracy theory that world leaders want people to eat bugs.
Tucker Carlson’s final days at Fox: Dominion bombshells, Elon Musk and eating bugs
Why did Fox News fire Tucker Carlson? Here are four theories
Tuesday 25 April 2023 20:30 , Alex Woodward
One day later, the question of why, exactly, Fox News said goodbye to Tucker Carlson is on everyone’s mind.
It seems Carlson might not even know the answer to that question; Vanity Fair reports that Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott would not reveal to him the exact reason why he was being let go.
The Independent’s Graig Graziosi looks at several reasons why Carlson have been too toxic to keep on the payroll:
Why did Fox News fire Tucker Carlson? Here are four theories
Far-right network hosts think Carlson was fired because he didn’t fit the Fox ‘agenda'
Tuesday 25 April 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward
Far-right media personalities believe that Tucker Carlson – who is at the centre of costly litigation involving the network’s lies about Dominion Voting Systems as well as a former producer’s lawsuit alleging widespread workplace harassment – was just too right-wing for the Murdoch family.
One America News Network Dan Ball said “the new Fox” under the Murdoch “boys” is pushing a “center, center-left agenda.”
On Newsmax, host Dan Bolling – dubbed “the king” of the 8 o’clock primetime slot by Peter Navarro – said that his network will stay “conservative”.
“We’re not going to move to the center left like Fox is doing,” he said on Monday.
Big Brains at OAN think Fox News gave Tucker the boot because The Murdoch Boys want to push a "center-left agenda" pic.twitter.com/oHHR6Tr1nz
— Bee (@mount_bees) April 25, 2023
The unstoppable rise and sudden downfall of Tucker Carlson
Tuesday 25 April 2023 19:37 , Alex Woodward
The Independent’s Josh Marcus charts the controversies and far-right nationalism that came to define the last several years of Tucker Carlson Tonight, and the litigation that could be fuelling the host’s abrupt exit from Fox News:
The unstoppable rise and sudden downfall of Tucker Carlson
Trump ally Peter Navarro lashes out at Carlson’s fill in Brian Kilmeade: ‘Cowardly scumbag'
Tuesday 25 April 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward
Former Trump administration aide Peter Navarro slammed Fox on its competing Newsmax after news of Tucker Carlson’s departure from the network on Monday.
He also called Carlson’s replacement for Monday’s show Brian Kilmeade a “Never Trump sock puppet. “
“Your midget feet won’t fit [Carlson’s] big shoes in this lifetime. Cut the [Fox] cord now,” he said.
"Hard no" @briankilmeade, you Never Trump sock puppet. Your midget feet won't fit @TuckerCarlson big shoes in this lifetime. Cut the @foxnews cord now. https://t.co/kkICCP7aNU
— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) April 25, 2023
On Tuesday, he called him a “cowardly scumbag. “
“An honorable man would have declined to sit in for [Carlson] the very first night of the firing, but no, the biggest Never-Trumper at [Fox] this side of [Karl Rove] went for the carcass,” he wrote.
BTW, this is why @briankilmeade is such a cowardly scumbag. An honorable man would have declined to sit in for @TuckerCarlson the very first night of the firing, but no, the biggest Never-Trumper at @foxnews this side of @karlrove went for the carcass. https://t.co/0MoNY9yJd1
— Peter Navarro (@RealPNavarro) April 25, 2023
Fox holds the power after Carlson’s exit, media reporter Ben Smith says
Tuesday 25 April 2023 18:30 , Alex Woodward
Semafor founder Ben Smith, a former media columnist for The New York Times and an editor in chief at Buzzfeed News, told CNBC on Monday that the “power of Fox” is not so much the personality behind the desk but the network itself.
After Tucker Carlson’s departure from the network, he may have trouble drawing a similarly large audience elsewhere, he said.
“I think the power of Fox to a degree more than the other networks, really, because its audience is older, is ... in that seat. And whoever is sitting in it, there will be some bumps around it, but I don’t think it’s an audience that Tucker is going to be able to reach somewhere else to ‘download my app and come with me over here,’” he said.
"The power of Fox is in that seat," says @semaforben on Fox News' now empty primetime slot after the network ousted @TuckerCarlson. "There will be some bumps around it, but I don't think it's an audience that Tucker will be able to reach somewhere else." pic.twitter.com/xEgOYac1Bh
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 25, 2023
Trump’s ‘shocked’ reaction to Carlson’s exit from Fox News
Tuesday 25 April 2023 18:06 , Alex Woodward
In an interview with Newsmax on Monday night, Donald Trump said he was “shocked” and “surprised” to see Tucker Carlson depart from Fox News.
“He’s a very good person, a very good man and very talented, as you know,” he said. “I just said, Wow, that was something, that’s a big one. I don’t know if it was voluntary, or was it, was somebody fired, but I think Tucker has been terrific – especially over the last year or so, he’s been terrific to me.”
In messages published in Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox News, Carlson called Trump a “demonic force” who is “only good at destroying” things.
“I hate him passionately,” he said at one point.
Donald Trump reacts to Tucker Carlson's sudden departure from Fox News: "I'm shocked, I'm surprised. He's a very good person ... Especially over the last year or so, he's been terrific to me." pic.twitter.com/7ABuRtw5J9
— aliciasadowski (@aliciasadowski6) April 25, 2023
‘Tucker Carlson set out to end my career. I don’t feel badly for him'
Tuesday 25 April 2023 17:15 , Alex Woodward
Christina Wyman, who declined an invitation to appear on Tucker Carlson Tonight in 2017, writes for The Independent:
It didn’t take much research to learn that this invitation was a cloak for something darker – something that could have, and likely would have, negatively altered the course of my life for the foreseeable future. In only a few clicks, I saw how Carlson had made a sport out of conducting pseudo-interviews that resulted in siccing his followers on anyone who dared to publicly care about social progress.
Tucker Carlson set out to end my career. I don’t feel badly for him
Bill O’Reilly chimes in
Tuesday 25 April 2023 16:45 , Alex Woodward
Bill O’Reilly, whose forced exit from Fox in 2017 paved the way for Tucker Carlson’s dominance, said on his radio show on Monday that Fox will “diminish” without him.
“The MAGA people ... are not going to hang around there,” he said.
“Carlson was never an overtly Republican guy. He was a contrarian,” he added. “He’s a very talented broadcaster. He’s good at what he does. And he did a shrewd move by going to the far right.”
Bill O'Reilly:
"He's a very talented broadcaster. He's good at what he does. And he did a shrewd move by going to the far right" [because he wasn't doing well with a broader audience].— Azi™️ (@Azi) April 24, 2023
O’Reilly said he believes Carlson’s departure will also impact the 2024 presidential election.
“Because the Republican Party, most of it, paid attention to Tucker Carlson,” he said. “But the Republican profile in the media is much less now ... And that will have an effect on mostly independent voters. Because, you know, the word won’t get out as fast, whatever the word may be.”
‘It’s about time’: Head of Anti-Defamation League welcomes Carlson’s departure
Tuesday 25 April 2023 16:15 , Alex Woodward
The so-called “great replacement theory” amplified by far-right extremists invokes a violent, antisemitic and racist conspiracy theory central to white supremacism, that white people are targeted for “replacement” with immigrants, people of colour and Muslims as part of a Jewish plot.
The conspiracy theory also fuelled hate-driven acts of violence, including massacres in El Paso, Texas and Buffalo, New York.
Tucker Carlson has repeatedly nodded to the conspiracy theory in Fox News segments. An analysis from The New York Times found 400 instances in which Carlson suggested that Democratic officials are trying to force a demographic change to improve their election chances. Members of Congress have also called on Fox and its leadership to stop amplifying the theory.
Jonathan Greenblatt, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, has repeatedly joined voices calling for Carlson’s removal.
“It’s about time,” he said on Monday. “For far too long, Tucker Carlson has used his primetime show to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to millions. [ADL] has long called for his firing for this and many other offenses, including spreading the Great Replacement Theory.”
It's about time. For far too long, Tucker Carlson has used his primetime show to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to millions. @ADL has long called for his firing for this and many other offenses, including spreading the Great Replacement Theory. https://t.co/06LjNYYnpY
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) April 24, 2023
Tucker Carlson, Russia’s next big star?
Tuesday 25 April 2023 15:50 , Alex Woodward
Russian state media networks offered their support for Tucker Carlson after news of his departure from Fox News.
RT, formerly Russia Today, wrote on Twitter: “Hey @TuckerCarlson, you can always question more with @RT_com.”
On his Telegram channel, Russian TV presenter and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov said Carlson is welcome on his programming any time. He also suggested he should run for president.
“You have our admiration and support in any endeavor you choose for yourself next, be it running for President of the United States (which you should totally do, by the way) or making an independent media project,” he appeared to have written in an email.
The lawsuit that could be at the heart of Carlson’s exit
Tuesday 25 April 2023 15:15 , Alex Woodward
Abby Grossberg was a producer for Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo before she was hired as the head of booking for Tucker Carlson Tonight in September 2022.
According to reports, her lawsuit at least in part prompted Carlson’s firing.
Her complaint last month alleges that Fox attorneys coerced her testimony in the Dominion case to bolster the network’s defenses, but the complaint also accused the network and Carlson’s programme of fostering a toxic work environment that “subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes, typecasts religious minorities and belittles their traditions, and demonstrates little to no regard for those suffering from mental illness.”
Read more takeaways from the filing in The Independent:
Lawsuits from Tucker Carlson producer depict culture of ‘systemic chauvinism’ at Fox
