Tucker Carlson Is Finished At Fox News After Sudden Exit
On April 24, Fox News dropped the bombshell that Tucker Carlson had left the network. "FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," Fox announced in an official statement. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. Mr. Carlson's last program was Friday April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named."
Carlson first joined Fox News as a contributor in 2009 and then became the host of the talk show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in 2016. He was known for his far-right political views and support of former President Donald Trump, who was often a guest on his show. The news comes as a shock, as "Tucker Carlson Tonight" was one of the most-watched shows on Fox. The reason for his departure was not given at the time of the announcement.
Tucker Carlson's political views have been controversial
Tucker Carlson's stance on American and global politics has always been highly conservative and he faced major backlash when he brought up the "great replacement" conspiracy theory during the "Fox News Primetime" show in 2021. The theory claims that the population of immigrants and people of color are dominating the United States and taking over the white population (via Huff Post). Referring to Presiden Biden's comments in 2015 about Caucasians being "an absolute minority in the United States of America," Carlson stated during his show, "Biden went further and said non-white DNA is, quote, 'the source of our strength,' Imagine saying that. This is the language of eugenics. It's horrifying. But there's a reason Biden said it: In political terms, this policy is called the 'great replacement,' the replacement of legacy Americans with more obedient people from faraway countries."
After speaking about the "great replacement" theory numerous times, Carlson backtracked a year later and feigned ignorance about the matter. "You've heard a lot about the 'great replacement theory' recently. It is everywhere in the last two days, and we are still not sure exactly what it is," he stated on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" (via CNN). He claimed the conspiracy theory came from "the left" in order to "change the racial mix of the country." While Carlson is no stranger to criticism for his views, he found himself in the middle of another controversy for his show — this time, from the White House.
Carlson's portrayal of the Jan. 6 insurrection put him at odds with the White House
Tucker Carlson used his nighttime talk show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" as a platform to share his highly controversial opinions on politics and race, but his false depiction of the January 6 attack on the Capitol now had the White House calling him out. Carlson, who had been given the security footage by White House speaker Kevin McCarthy, only shared hand-picked moments of the riot that made it seem like a peaceful protest. "We agree with the chief of the Capitol Police and the wide range of bipartisan lawmakers who have condemned this false depiction of the unprecedented, violent attack on our Constitution and the rule of law ... We also agree with what Fox News's own attorneys and executives have now repeatedly stressed in multiple courts of law: That Tucker Carlson is not credible," spokesperson Andrew Bates stated, per CNN.
Senator Patty Murray also called out Carlson. "I'm not saying reporters have to be utterly objective, or neutral, or impersonal. I'm not even saying they have to be right 100 percent of the time — no one is. But they have to tell the truth ... They owe it to the people they cover, and the viewers who trust them ... And yet, as the Dominion lawsuit is showing, Fox News has been utterly failing to meet it," she declared (via her website). It is unknown at this time if Tucker's departure from Fox is related to the Dominion lawsuit.
Tucker Carlson was one of many Fox employees involved in the Dominion lawsuit
It's unclear if Carlson was fired or left Fox News on his own accord. The announcement of his departure came a week after Fox settled with the voting software company. Carlson, among other Fox hosts, claimed that the 2020 election was rigged and that President Joe Biden was given false votes over former President Donald Trump. Dominion Voting Systems, which is the software and hardware company used during the election, slapped Fox News with a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit and the two parties reached a settlement of $787,500,000 before the case went to trial per Forbes.
According to NPR, Carlson was named in another lawsuit against Fox — this time by his former senior booking producer, Abby Grossberg, who accused the pundit of harassment and sexism. She claimed that images of former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, were altered to make her appear in a bathing suit and that twice, among other misogynistic actions in the workplace. Grossberg was fired in March after she claimed the network pushed her to lie in the Dominion case. It's unclear what Carlson's future holds but his controversial ways just may have been the last straw for Fox.