Fox News Dumps Tucker Carlson, Ends Show

Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News, having hosted his last primetime episode Friday, less than a week after settling a lawsuit over the network's 2020 election reporting.

"FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," Fox News wrote in a statement Monday. "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 21. 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."

Reasons and Speculation

There was no immediate explanation from Fox about why Carlson was leaving, but some reports suggest Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch sought Carlson's ouster.

Indeed, DailyMail.com reported that, according to sources close to Carlson's Fox show, the on-air celeb commentator was blindsided by the news. Some of his closest staff learned about the move only by reading Twitter, the news website said.

Carlson was recently named in a lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, a Fox News producer fired after claiming Fox lawyers had pressured her to give misleading testimony in the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit. Grossberg had gone to work for Carlson after leaving Maria Bartiromo's "Sunday Morning Futures."

Her lawsuit says Grossberg learned "she had merely traded in one overtly misogynistic work environment for an even crueler one — this time, one where unprofessionalism reigned supreme, and the staff's distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision."

On her first day of work at Carlson's program, Grossberg said in her lawsuit, she was met with large, blown-up photographs of Nancy Pelosi in a bathing suit with a plunging neckline.

Fox has countered with its own lawsuit, trying to bar Grossberg from disclosing confidential discussions with Fox attorneys and saying in a statement "her allegations in connection with the Dominion case are baseless."

Sources told the L.A. Times that Carlson's ouster was related to the Grossberg lawsuit and not the $787.5-million settlement Fox News agreed to pay to Dominion Voting Systems last week.

She told the Daily Mail that the firing looked tyo her like an admission of guilt by Fox.

'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,' Grossberg said, according to DailyMail.com

'I think this is great for America! It's a big win for viewers of cable news, not just those who watch Fox.'

Meanwhile, there was also speculation that Murdoch, intent on selling Fox, axed Carlson because the company was a harder sell with the fiery personality attached to it.

A report by the Los Angeles Times contended it was the combination of the Grossberg suit and Carlson'c controversial coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach that led to his ouster. He has been derided by some critics for recent installments in which he aired previously unreleased security footage from Jan. 6 to bolster his contention that the event was more peaceful than mainstream media accounts have claimed.

More History

Carlson became the network's most popular personality after replacing Bill O'Reilly in the primetime lineup in 2016.

Carlson has been a controversial host, having questioned the support for Ukraine and been alleged to share anti-war sentiment that is not critical enough on Russia.

Also, Democrats had objected to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., granting Carlson access to Jan. 6 footage the former Democrat-led Congress did not show publicly during its Jan. 6 select committee hearings.

".@TuckerCarlson has been engaging in the best journalism on TV uncovering and exposing the truth," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., tweeted after the news.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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