This is not fake news. Last Friday was Tucker’s last Fox show. Fox is reporting that Tucker Carlson’s show is being replaced by “Fox News Tonight” which will have rotating hosts until they think of what to put in the spot permanently. We don’t know if Fox fired him (my guess) or if he quit, or what.
Updates: CNN fired Don Lemon today. I know who Don Lemon is but have never watched his CNN show. Well, I hardly ever watch CNN. I have read a lot of criticisms of Lemon lately for being sexist, so I’m not surprised. Luke Winkie writes at Slate:
After a hallucinatory 17-year-long run at CNN—which included heinous interviews with Bill Cosby accusers, intrepid reporting on the density of marijuana smoke at Ferguson protests, and, more recently, a string of sexism allegations broken by Variety that date back at least 15 years—Don Lemon is out at CNN. … You must also consider why it took this long for Lemon to be served his papers, considering he once made national headlines for asking the aforementioned Cosby accuser if she considered “biting” her assailant’s penis after being coerced into oral sex. (This was 2014, by the way, not 1992.)
Regarding Tucker, we still don’t know an official reason for why he and Fox “parted.” But Rolling Stone reports that there is much rejoicing among the worker bees at Fox.
“Pure joy,” one Fox reporter told Rolling Stone of their reaction to the split. “No one is untouchable. It’s a great day for America, and for the real journalists who work hard every day to deliver the news at Fox.”
“It was a good move to part ways with Tucker,” added a producer. “He knowingly spread lies throughout his time at Fox, but I fear management will replace him with someone who is just like him … so there probably won’t be any real change.”
“Good riddance,” said a network correspondent. “For a while there it seemed like he was running the network. This clearly is a message that he’s not. In the interim, it’s a morale boost, that’s for sure.” …
… Semafor reported that Carlson’s executive producer, Justin Wells, is also no longer with the network. Wells was also named in [Amy] Grossberg’s suit.
Update: The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Tucker was fired by Rupert Murdoch.
A Fox News representative had no other details on Carlson’s exit. People familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly said the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.
Carlson’s exit is related to the discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, the producer fired by the network last month, the people said. Carlson’s senior executive producer Justin Wells has also been terminated, according to people familiar with the matter. A Fox News representative would not comment.
Murdoch is also said to be concerned over Carlson’s coverage of the Jan. 6, 202 1, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, in which the host has promoted the conspiracy theory that it was provoked by government agents.
Carlson has called Ray Epps — a Texas man who participated in the storming of the Capitol but did not enter the building — an FBI plant, without presenting any evidence.
Epps was interviewed Sunday on “60 Minutes” and said he has been subjected to death threats as a result of Carlson’s statements about him. The FBI told “60 Minutes” that Epps has never worked for the agency.
Update: Bloomberg is reporting that losing Tucker caused a drop in Fox Corp. stock value that wiped out $590 million.
Update: New York magazine, citing Semafor and the New York Times, is reporting that Tucker found out he was fired this morning.
Semafor and the New York Times both report that Carlson didn’t find out he was being fired until Monday morning. A “person close to Fox leadership” commented to Semafor that, “This is just classic Murdoch assassination — you’re their closest friend, their favorite child and now you’re dead.”
Update:
So they fired him for lying as instructed to do by management…..
We don't know anything yet. It's possible Tucker quit. Maybe he got a better offer from Russia Today.
Maybe but I'm pretty sure he's already on Putin's payroll!
According to the NYT the Russian state channel, RT, has. I hope he accepts.
Nobody had to beg for the dancing banana.
From Fox to obscurity? Like what's-his-name with the whiteboard?
VP candidate?
Oh boy all the RWNJ gun humpers will be shooting their guns and flying the "patriotic" flags tonight, #1 bigot is off the air, this is almost as bad as Biden Stealing the election, how dare they!
One suspects that after Dominion (787 million) and with Smarttech looming, management may have come down with directives (not guidelines) about reporting, questioning, and speculating that's not backed up by fact and reality. "Just askin'" might not be acceptable as an excuse to lie to viewers And Carlson replied, "I'm a star and when you're a star, you can do whatever you want." And Fox said, "Bye, Star!"
Gonna pop open a Bud Light to celebrate!
There is no good reason – none – to pop open a Bud Light.
MAGA vs. watery beer? Please, can't they both lose?
That you Kid Rock?!
Not loony radical enough. My bet’s on being replaced by “The Ted and Kid Show” (Nugent and Rock). It’ll be a contemporary version of Hannity-Colmes, except with a lot more guns, with Mike Pillow as the fill in host for whenever the two are out hunting cats or are too hungover to show up. There’ll be a disclaimer at the end of each show which explains that it was all just entertainment so you can’t sue us, knowing that not a single regular viewer will see it or care.
The sudden timing of this means the departure might not have been amicable. Otherwise there would’ve been a show where Carlson got to say the usual thanks and good byes.
Rumor has it that Pirro and Bartiromo are also on their way out. Pair that with the canning of Bongino and now Tuck, a collection of their nastiest and craziest, could it be, what with Smartmatic and other lawsuits on the way, that Fox sees their business model of bold face lies and unfiltered right wing propaganda as no longer tenable? But the reality is, Tucker was the number one cable host for years spewing the most vile, racist disinformation, because there's a market for it. And the bad news is somebody is going to fill that void, with or without Tuck. Enjoy the schadenfreude now, because the respite we may get from the absence of our modern day Father Coughlin will likely be short lived.
Maybe I've been wrong and there is a God…
I'm guessing Rupert is cutting his losses, with Smartmatic, Abby Grossberg, and shareholder lawsuits coming up. He can say "Management has addressed the issue".
Is there anybody as snotty as Carlson? What will the old viewers do? I'd love to be inside certain homes right now, as certain family members look vacantly at their TV screens for their favorite fix of 2 minutes hate.
This should also help quell the disappointment most of us felt over the Dominion verdict. The aftershocks continue.
"Fox has addressed the issue." does not mitigate the losses that Smarttek or Grossberg incurred. It does open the door in testimony re exactly what issues Fox is admitting prior guilt to.
Fox paid out on Dominion – they are now a deep-pocket target for defamation suits. Want to know who is waiting in the wings? The guy Tucker IDd as a FBI instigator of J6. The FBI says he isn't theirs AT ALL! He's getting death threats. A business model doesn't exist that includes 2 billion a year in defamation damages.
Murdoch must have sanctioned the "Swift Boat" hit job on Kerry decades ago. For a long time, there were no consequences for presenting conservative fantasy as fact on Fox. Smarttek and Dominion proved that the First Amendment shield won't hold up against lies. Lawyers who previously would not have touched a case where a major news org was the target will look closer.
IMO, Rupert let the kids do what they wanted at Fox – outright fiction presented as news and sex scandal after sex scandal. Carlson is popular – he might be a ratings draw anywhere he goes, but where can he go? Carlson had the same problem as Beck – a huge audience but the content was Kryptonite to advertisers. Even if an audience shifts to OAN for Carlson, no advertising will go with him. So who pays the big bucks Carlson expects?
I'd dearly like to know if the lawyers at Fox have been authorized to impose order on the frat house. No more booking lunatics without standing (something that makes them a legitimate authority,) IMO, Fox, and especially Carlson, was booking crackpots so they could say what Carlson wanted to say but couldn't without liability. With the loss of credibility that dual lawsuits will do, the defense that the Fox host can't control what a guest will say won't hold.
Let's see who else gets the axe – it will be instructive.
Fox is going to stay conservative but I'm not sure they will replace the kooks with slightly less offensive kooks. It doesn't reduce their exposure to big ticket lawsuits. The truth is always a defense, and the networks won't pay out for a good-faith mistake that's corrected promptly. If litigation is what triggered Carlsons departure, the abuses that could bring on litigation will be addressed. In a rational world, anyway.
This is starting off as a good week. I can't wait for the rape trial.
Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do – Neil Sedaka – YouTube
Was the timing because Colbert is on vacation this week?
A $590 million drop in the stock value is a good start. Keep up the good work, Faux investors.