Tucker Carlson departs Fox News, pushed out by Rupert Murdoch
By Stephen Battaglio April 24, 2023
Tucker Carlson, who sustained Fox News as a ratings juggernaut, has been forced out of the network. Fox News announced the departure of its top-rated host Monday with no explanation, but peoplewho were not authorizedto comment publicly said the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch with input from board members and other Fox Corp. executives. Murdoch’s son Lachlan, executive chairman of Fox Corp., and Suzanne Scott, chief executive of Fox News Media. Rupert Murdoch elevated Carlson from contributor to daily host in 2016. Carlson moved into prime time in 2017.
Carlson’s exit isrelated to the discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, a producer fired by the network last month, the sources said. Grossberg was moved onto “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” where she alleged she wasbullied and subjected to antisemiticcomments, according to a lawsuit in New York. Grossberg said she was coerced by company lawyers to givemisleading answers in the DominionVoting Systems defamation case against the network. “Mr. Carlson and his subordinates remain individual defendants in the [Southern District of New York] case, and we look forward to taking their depositions under oath in the very near term.”
Fox News denied the claim and said Grossberg was terminated fordisclosing privileged company information. Fox News said in a statement will defend itself against what it called Grossberg’s legal claims, which the company called “riddled with false allegations.”
Murdoch also was said to be concerned about Carlson’s coverageof the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionat the U.S. Capitol. The host has promoted theconspiracy theorythat it was provoked by government agents, and Carlson has called Ray Epps — an Arizona man who participated in the storming of the Capitolbut did not enter the building— an FBI plant, without presenting any evidence. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sparked a backlash when he granted Carlson exclusive access to footage from the Jan. 6 attack.
Carlson’s ousterwas not partof the $787.5-million settlement Fox News agreed to pay to Dominion last week, according to a representative for Dominion. Dominion accused Fox of knowingly making false claims related to the 2020 election. However, some of the comments that Carlson had made about Fox News management may have played a role in his downfall.
Carlson was by far the most popular host on Fox News, averaging more than 3 million viewers a night. (*So how do the say later, O’Reilly was more popular?)
But he also brought controversy to the network on a regular basis withhis right-wing viewson immigration and race, which alienated advertisers. He was strident on illegal immigration across the Southern border. He was particularly critical of the Black Lives Matter movement after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. He sowed doubt about the circumstances of Floyd’s death and said Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted of taking his life, was subjected to a “lynching” by the media.
O’Reilly had the highest ratings of any Fox News personality when he exited *but Carlson never reached the same ratings heights after he replaced the star. (KEK) Carlson’s dismissal comes after one of the most successful career reinventions in TV history.
Carlson put thepopulist outrage formula on steroidsin his cable news commentary. And he. tapped intoright-wing anger over immigration policy. He promoted the idea that Democratic immigration policy was about changing “the demographics of the country” — in other words replacing white people. Such remarks made Carlsonradioactive to big brand sponsors who abandonedthe program. But Carlson eventually gave a regular platform tocoronavirus vaccine skepticswho had a hold on the Make America Great Again crowd.
(This article has everything, except the real reason: bullying, antisemitism, brand sponsors hated him, right wing immigration anger, conspiracy theories about 2020 election, not as successful as O’Reilly (kek), populist outrage, George Floyd BLM, Derek Chauvin, Dominion and more lawsuits, Chris Wallace, Leland Vittert, comments & criticism of FOX mgmt, J6 footage, Ray Epps, other networks pissed Tucker got J6 tapes)
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-24/tucker-carlson-is-out-at-fox-news