Kyle Becker revealed the following on Twitter about Rupert Murdoch possibly firing Tucker Carlson over his backing of Donald Trump’s false January 6th conspiracy theories:
This just in: Rupert Murdoch is reportedly behind Tucker Carlson being pushed out at Fox News. Murdoch was said to be concerned over Carlson’s J6 coverage.
This just in: Rupert Murdoch is reportedly behind Tucker Carlson being pushed out at Fox News.
Murdoch was said to be concerned over Carlson’s J6 coverage.
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) April 24, 2023
On Monday, Fox News announced that Tucker Carlson, a prominent right-wing prime-time host, would be leaving the network immediately. The announcement came just days after Fox News’ parent company settled Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit for a whopping $787.5 million. CNBC had previously reported that the settlement did not require hosts to discuss or apologize for the lawsuit.
In a statement released on Monday, Fox News Media announced that “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways” and thanked him for his service to the network. There will be no send-off for Carlson, as his last program aired on Friday, and the network has not offered any statement on his behalf. Carlson’s program, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” was one of the top-rated programs on Fox News.
The news of Carlson’s exit came on the same day that CNN anchor Don Lemon announced he had been fired from the network, and a day after NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell was dismissed for having an inappropriate relationship with an employee. Carlson, 53, was among the Fox hosts and executives questioned as part of the Dominion lawsuit. Several of his emails and texts were part of the evidence released before the settlement. Dominion’s attorneys also listed about 20 episodes that appeared on Fox’s networks as evidence of defamation, with Carlson’s among them.
Dominion sued Fox and its networks, arguing that they “intentionally and falsely” blamed Dominion for the 2020 loss of former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden by airing unsubstantiated claims that the company’s machines rigged the election. Carlson was among the top anchors who expressed disbelief and skepticism behind the scenes about comments being made on air, particularly by guests like pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell. In court papers, Carlson was quoted as saying, “It’s unbelievably offensive to me. Our viewers are good people and they believe it.”
Dominion pointed to the drop in Fox’s audience following election night, when the network called Arizona for Biden. Behind the scenes, Carlson and his fellow hosts expressed “the threat to them personally.” In a message to his producer on Nov. 5, Carlson said: “We worked really hard to build what we have. Those f—-ers are destroying our credibility. It enrages me.”
In the weeks following the election, Fox hosted Powell, as well as Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on air, during which they repeated the false claims that Dominion rigged the election. Carlson recently hosted Trump on Fox News, but had called him “a demonic force” after Jan. 6, when a violent mob of Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol.
Carlson was among the witnesses slated to testify had the Dominion lawsuit gone to trial. On that list of witnesses was also Abby Grossberg, a former Fox producer who worked on the shows of Maria Bartiromo and Carlson. Grossberg came forward alleging she was coerced into providing misleading testimony as part of the Dominion lawsuit. Fox has denied the allegations and said that Grossberg made “unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.”
Grossberg has filed lawsuits against Fox in New York and Delaware, accusing the network of discrimination. She cheered Carlson’s departure in a statement on Monday, saying, “This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand at the network, as well as for the abuse and harassment I endured while Head of Booking and Senior Producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight. I think this is great for America! It’s a big win for viewers of cable news, not just those who watch Fox.”
