Almost no one bought Tucker Carlson’s biography, as woeful sales are revealed

Aug 17 2023
Written by Emily Chudy

American political commentator Tucker Carlson delivers a talk wearing a suit and tie

A biography of the former Fox News host, who once broadcast to more than three million people, sold around 3,000 copies. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

A biography of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has reportedly struggled to sell, with just over 3,000 purchases made in its first week of release.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, the biography Tucker by Chadwick Moore sold just 3,227 hardcover copies in its first week of publication on 1 August.

The biography, reportedly based on more than 1,000 hours of interviews with Carlson, promised to tell the right-wing political commentator’s side of the story after he parted ways with Fox News in April, as well as spill details about his relationship with his father, Dick Carlson.

Carlson was Fox News’ highest-rated presenter, netting an average of three million viewers per show – but just a tiny fraction of that number wanted to read more about the right-wing news host.

Despite this, the biography placed 15th on Publishers Weekly’s hardcover nonfiction list, just ahead of a book by another Fox News host, The King of Late Night by Greg Gutfield.

Tucker fell more than 15,000 copies short of the category’s best-seller, Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s by B Dylan Hollis.

Carlson’s biography did not feature on the New York Times best-seller list for hardcover nonfiction, and it placed 595th on Amazon’s overall book sales rankings.

After over a year of interviews, writing, and editing — the Tucker biography LAUNCH DAY is finally here!

I'm grateful to Tucker, his family, and his team, as well as to my publisher All Seasons Press, for making this book possible.

Visit https://t.co/TitdKWPWAW today to get… pic.twitter.com/z4NIdqx5Xm
— Chadwick Moore (@Chadwick_Moore) August 1, 2023

The controversial right-wing presenter left Fox News in April, with the broadcaster thanking Carlson for “his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor”.

During his time at Fox News, Tucker Carlson had a long history of making anti-LGBTQ+ comments, including accusing United States transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg of lying about being gay, and describing healthcare officials providing gender-affirming care as “criminals”.

In March, he described trans people carrying guns for self-defence, in light of attacks from hate groups, as “political hysteria”.

He was widely criticised for his remarks, having previously defended gun ownership, with Rolling Stone reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez claiming of the segment: “Irony found dead in a ditch.”

Tucker Carlson has since gone on to re-launch his show on Twitter.

More: biography fox news Tucker Carlson