Tucker Carlson leaves Fox News
Tucker Carlson’s various Fox News shows are some of the most watched on the network. (Getty)
Controversial conservative presenter Tucker Carlson has parted ways with Fox News.
On Monday (24 April), senior CNN reporter Oliver Darcy tweeted a statement from the US media giant which said Carlson and the right-wing network would no longer be working with each other.
In the statement, Fox News thanked Carlson for “his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor”.
The right-wing political commentator’s final show aired on Friday (21 April) – the statement explains – and a new show entitled Fox News Tonight will be manned by other Fox News personalities until a full-time replacement is found.
It is currently unclear what the exact circumstances for the separation is, however it comes just a week after Fox News agreed to pay $787.5m (about £633m) to electronic ballot company Dominion Voting Systems, to end a lawsuit over its US election coverage in 2020.
The settlement came as the ballot company was set to take Fox News to court for defamation, as the software company claimed Fox News’ coverage the election effectively accused Dominion of vote rigging.
As reported by The Hill, depositions taken by Dominion’s lawyers during the case revealed text exchanges between the network’s top figures.
One widely publicised exchanged showed that Carlson has contrasting views on Trump compared to his on-air output, whereby he said Trump’s claims of election fraud were “insane”.
The pay-out is significantly less than the original $1.6 billion (£1.26 billion) sought by Dominion when it filed the lawsuit in March 2021.
Justin Nelson, one of Dominion’s lawyers, said that two years ago a “torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials” into an “alternative universe of conspiracy theories”.
“This litigation cannot solve all problems, all of us remain ever-vigilant to find common factual ground. Today represents a ringing endorsement for truth and democracy,” Nelson said.
“Truth matters,” he added, “Lies have consequences. The truth does not know red or blue.
“People across the political spectrum can and should disagree on issues, even of the most profound importance. But for our democracy to endure another 250 years and, hopefully, much longer, we must share a commitment to facts.”
Following the settlement, a spokesperson for Fox News said: “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.
“This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.
“We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”
Earlier in April, an LGBTQ+ group in Canada called for Fox News to be banned from Canadian cable after Carlson made slew of “horrifying” anti-trans comments.
The open letter from Egale Canada criticised Carlson for comments he made after the Nashville, Tennessee mass shooting in in March. Carlson claiming: “The trans movement is targeting Christians, including with violence”.
Carlson was Fox News’ highest rated presenter, netting an average of three million viewers per show.
At this time, Carlson has not publicly commented on the matter.
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