‘It Was a Firing’: Tucker Carlson’s Exit from Fox Was NOT Voluntary, Sources Say

By Sarah RumpfApr 24th, 2023, 1:33 pm
 
Tucker Carlson

AP Photo/Richard Drew

Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News was not voluntary, multiple sources told Mediaite.

Fox News shocked the media world Monday morning with a statement announcing the network and its top-rated host “have agreed to part ways.”

The stunning news came just a week after the network’s $787.5 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems — and a potentially even more costly lawsuit from Smartmatic still looming — and Carlson’s own texts and emails figured prominently in the pre-trial discovery showing Fox News executives and on-air personalities privately admitting the same 2020 election conspiracies they publicly promoted were baseless nonsense.

Carlson’s final show that aired Friday night showed no indication he expected it to be his last, with the host signing off by telling his audience “we’ll be back on Monday.”

A source who spoke with Mediaite on condition of anonymity revealed that Carlson was in fact shocked by the news. “He was totally surprised,” said the source. “He had no idea.”

“It was a firing,” the source added, and Carlson “was informed today” — explaining why he had closed Friday’s show saying he’d be back Monday.

The Fox News newsroom is “in a state of shock,” the source said, confirming reporting by Mediaite’s Aidan McLaughlin that multiple sources within the network said the news “hit like a bomb inside the network, shocking even staffers close to the ex-prime time host who had no idea this was coming,” and found out not from any internal communication, but when the news broke online.

The source did not know the precise reason for Carlson’s firing, but speculated that it was “part of general housecleaning” after the Dominion settlement plus the grumbling and litigation worries from Fox News shareholders, or something related to former Fox producer Abby Grossman’s complaint that was specifically connected to Carlson.

With former President Donald Trump increasingly looking like the likely 2024 GOP presidential nominee, the Fox News top brass may be worried about ongoing liability risks as the election season heats up, the source mused — and additional on-air personalities might soon get the ax.

Additional sources at Fox News independently confirmed to Mediaite that Carlson was ousted from the network, but also did not know a precise reason why.

This is a breaking news story and may be updated.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law & Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on the BBC, MSNBC, NewsNation, Fox 35 Orlando, Fox 7 Austin, The Young Turks, The Dean Obeidallah Show, and other television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe.