Tucker Carlson's News Program Gets Second Life With Twitter Reboot
Conservative news personality Tucker Carlson is returning to the airwaves, but not in the way you might think. While Carlson was broadcast on Fox News for more than a decade, he announced on May 9 that he will be producing a brand new independent show on Twitter after the abrupt end of his cable news program.
If you don't remember, the former Fox News powerhouse was ousted by the organization on April 24, much to his surprise. Even though Carlson has certainly been a controversial figure, his nightly news show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," was pulling in the highest total of viewers of any cable news show before his firing, as reported by Forbes. While the exact cause of his firing remains unknown, many have pointed to his involvement in the Fox organization's Dominion defamation lawsuit.
While enjoying his post-Fox News "retirement," Carlson hinted to the Daily Mail on April 26 that he had something up his sleeve for the future of his career. "Appetizers plus entre," he alluded to the publication. Now, he's finally revealing exactly what that meal plan is, and the diet includes a major helping of Twitter.
Tucker Carlson unveils new show using the 'freedom' of Twitter
Tucker Carlson got the memo that big corporations are totally out these days. Instead of signing a contract with another conservative news organization, he revealed his plans to begin a brand new show — which he explained will be similar to, yet different than the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" program — via a three-minute video uploaded to Twitter. He began his online announcement by spouting that just because something can be "fact-checked" doesn't make something actually "true," and that mainstream news "manipulates" its viewers. "The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can," he asserted. "But there are always limits."
Carlson explained that he will provide further updates, but the Twitter website will definitely be the home of his new show. "Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops," he theorized. "Twitter is not a partisan site. Everybody is allowed here, and we think that's a good thing."
There have been recent reports of Carlson attempting to get out of his contract with Fox News because it includes a non-compete clause that prevents him from signing another contract with a competing news organization until 2025. The former host will supposedly be losing out on more than $25 million for breaking his contract with this new Twitter program.
Tucker's lawyers threaten legal action against Fox News for 'breach of contract' and 'fraud'
Behind the scenes, Tucker Carlson's lawyers are reportedly fighting against his former employer and alleging that Fox News compromised the terms of their contract long before the anchor announced his new social media-based show. Sources revealed to Axios on May 9 that prior to Carlson's Twitter announcement, his lawyers had sent a letter to executives at Fox News accusing them of "fraud and breach of contract." The letter included Carlson claiming that "Rupert Murdoch himself" and other Fox employees did not keep to their word when they promised him things — or "material representations" — which his lawyers argue amounts to fraud. They went on to assert that the breach of contract came from these "misrepresentations," since the broken promises supposedly "created additional terms of Carlson's employment."
The former host's legal team further alleged that Fox News had promised Carlson not to implicate him "in a way which would indicate wrongdoing" in their settlement in the Dominion defamation case, which the letter claims was breached. The "aggressive" letter finished by saying he is considering litigation against Fox News. The big question is, do broken promises constitute a breach of contract?
Regardless, one of Carlson's lawyers, Bryan Freedman, insisted in a statement to Axios that his client was determined to get his face back in the news landscape. "The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous," Freedman stated.
Elon Musk welcomes Tucker Carlson to Twitter with open arms
Twitter CEO Elon Musk took it upon himself to pull out the welcome wagon for Tucker Carlson after he announced his Twitter-based news program. Of course, Musk has been the head of the social media company since October 2022 and one of his latest initiatives for the company is to create a home for news media. A few hours after Carlson uploaded his video, Musk tweeted his support for the ousted anchor and emphasized Twitter's efforts to curb "misleading" information on the platform.
"I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever," the Twitter CEO clarified. "Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators. Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (coming soon), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with the content."
Musk finished by calling upon media companies from both sides of the political aisle to promote and upload their content to Twitter. "I hope that many others, particularly from the left, also choose to be content creators on this platform," he declared.