Remember in 2017, when chino-clad Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Virginia with their tiki torches? The Nazis were overwhelmingly clean-cut white men in their 20s and 30s, and most of them traveled from out of state to do their sad Nazi stunt. Whenever I think of those Nazis, I think of Tucker Carlson and his whole deal. It’s Nazism wearing the mask of a Docker-clad dweeb, the chinless man-child who wears loafers and speaks in an educated voice about the need to “cleanse” society of immigrants, Muslims, feminists and (as always) Black folks. Carlson has been on Fox News prime time since 2016. Before that, he had a right-wing blog and he wrote books about how much he hates his mother, and he was on CNN for a while too. His tenure on Fox News has seen Carlson lean into every racist, misogynistic, white-supremacist dog whistle there is. Whenever I see a clip of his show, I always find it appalling to see just how thoroughly he’s radicalized himself. Well, no more. Fox News fired his ass one week after they settled with Dominion Voting Systems.
Fox News said Monday that it was parting ways with Tucker Carlson, its most popular prime time host who was also the source of repeated controversies and headaches for the network because of his statements on everything from race relations to L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
The network made the announcement less than a week after it agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit in which Mr. Carlson’s show, one of the highest rated on Fox, figured prominently for its role in spreading misinformation after the 2020 election. In making its announcement, Fox offered a terse statement of gratitude. “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” it said.
His last program was on Friday, Fox said.
Mr. Carlson is also facing a lawsuit from a former Fox News producer, Abby Grossberg, who claims that he presided over a misogynistic and discriminatory workplace culture. Ms. Grossberg said in the lawsuit, which was filed in March, that on her first day working for Mr. Carlson, she discovered the work space was decorated with large pictures of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wearing a swimsuit. Fox has disputed Ms. Grossberg’s claims. A spokeswoman said in a recent statement: “We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against Ms. Grossberg’s unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.”
While this was the official statement, that Carlson and Fox News “agreed to part ways,” Fox News sources immediately began calling up their media colleagues and spilling the tea. A source told Mediaite that Carlson was absolutely fired and it happened very suddenly: “He was totally surprised. He had no idea. It was a firing. He was informed” on Monday. Semafor reports that Carlson’s executive producer Justin Wells was also sh-tcanned at the same time. The whole thing is, according to Semafor’s sources, “just classic Murdoch assassination — you’re their closest friend, their favorite child and now you’re dead.”
My guess is that this is about the Dominion Voting lawsuit and settlement more than the discriminatory workplace lawsuit, although that Grossberg lawsuit probably made it much easier for Fox News to pull the plug. If Carlson and his bros were only being sexist douchebags to the handful of women on staff, Fox News would have shrugged and said “and?” But the fact that Carlson was overzealously selling election conspiracies, conspiracies which cost the Murdochs over $700 million to settle? Yeah. That being said, the Murdochs were fine with Tucker Carlson doing all of that in the wake of the 2020 election. It was practically a company-wide policy to disseminate election fraud conspiracies.
I can’t wait to hear the Murdoch family leak about who pulled the plug on Carlson. That recent Vanity Fair cover story made it sound like Rupert Murdoch lost the plot in 2020, and no one in his orbit understands why he was signing off on the election conspiracies.
Here was the end of what turned out to be Tucker Carlson's final Fox News show last Friday. Certainly no indication that he didn't expect to be on the air tonight. In fact Tucker's final words are, "we'll be back on Monday." pic.twitter.com/F9R5MpWHDK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2023
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- West Hollywood, CA – Popular TV newscaster Tucker Carlson was seen leaving the trendy Craig’s restaurant in Los Angeles. Pictured: Tucker Carlson BACKGRID USA 21 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: MIAN / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- West Hollywood, CA – Popular TV newscaster Tucker Carlson was seen leaving the trendy Craig’s restaurant in Los Angeles. Pictured: Tucker Carlson BACKGRID USA 21 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: MIAN / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- West Hollywood, CA – Popular TV newscaster Tucker Carlson was seen leaving the trendy Craig’s restaurant in Los Angeles. Pictured: Tucker Carlson BACKGRID USA 21 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: MIAN / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- West Hollywood, CA – Popular TV newscaster Tucker Carlson was seen leaving the trendy Craig’s restaurant in Los Angeles. Pictured: Tucker Carlson BACKGRID USA 21 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: MIAN / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
He’s just going to be replaced by someone equally vile, so….
Yeah I’m concerned that he will go somewhere even worse. Like Rush L or the Sandyhook propaganda guy. Or Trumps VP choice. He should have been launched into the sun.
Rush died last year, so at least not him! But I agree it will be someone vile.
Rush is dead and the Sandyhook propaganda giy got his own nearly billion dollar lawsuit settlement to pay.
Yes! My first thought was, “What dangerous person will they put in next that will be even worse than the unhinged bow tie???” It’s honestly frightening, considering Tucker legitimately either lies on-air or believes the conspiracy theories, which means he clearly needs help ie medication and therapy. And the media company is fine giving him a voice either way!
My favorite Tuckerism is when he called the Jan. 6th insurrection tourists. He is a vile person
He’ll never again have a job with that kind of platform, and the humiliation of this will eat at him for the rest of his life. And it couldn’t happen to anyone more deserving.
The news this morning is saying it was Abby Grossberg’s lawsuit that pushed Murdoch over the edge. Evidently, she has 90 recordings to back up her claims.
@ Amy T, absolutely this will hurt TC and has never had as good as he did on Fox. TC has no one to blame but himself, actually. TC will has now been branded as poison and there was no mutual agreement, he was fired.
I was unaware about the Grossberg lawsuit but from the details you have provided, she has receipts and he will have to pay up. Glorious all around!!
As the lawsuits pile up, pretty soon we’re talking real money–even for the Murdochs.
I’m old enough to remember Carlson on CNN’s Crossfire show. He was pretty much an annoying but garden variety conservative then. But he has always been a proudly open misogynist.
Tucker has already been fired at MSNBC and CNN. He had a very high profile show at CNN, Crossfire, which imploded after a visit from Jon Stewart. He also stopped wearing wearing his signature bow ties after Jon ridiculed them.
This felt like an episode of Succession with Logan ‘you have to be a killer’ Roy.
Bwhwahahahahaha!! The beauty of this is is that there are not many right-wing media ratholes he can go from here–and the ones that are are a serious step downward. He’s done–finally!!! Karma invariably catches up with you…:)
We know that FOX finally considered TC to be too much of a liability to maintain, so what delights me is anticipating what, exactly, they consider too much of a liability. What is going to come out?! SOMEONE has some ironclad receipts, and let’s be honest — FOX doesn’t give a flying turd about sexual harassment, anti-Semintism, or vaguely critical statements about the execs. They were able to move forward with this pile of human excrement even after he insulted Trump, so it’s none of those things.
It’s something else. Something so vile and proveable they have to disavow him pre-emptively.
I. Cannot. Wait.
I’m guessing it’s just more Jan. 6-related texts explicitly acknowledging the ‘fraud’ argument didn’t hold water… but I hope it’s infinitely more salacious. Proveable Russian collusion. Dick pics sent to Putin himself. Sex tapes of him in a sweaty circle jerk with Don Jr., Matt Gaetz, and Madison Cawthorn.
He’ll land somewhere, but his new home will not give him the platform and reach he had at Fox News. Going to OAN or Newsmax would be a step down for him.
As far as streaming radio or podcasts, his most successful stints seem to be in TV broadcast journalism. He may get some interest from Sirius or Spotify, but if he’s a liability for Fox to cut him loose so fast, he may be too much of a risk for them to take on. Plus, his demographics of scared older white people with minimal education match their subscriber base.
Someone on twitter (can’t remember who) had a smart take – this is the cleaning of the house pre Smartmatic and the other lawsuits, and someone worse will be appointed prior to the 24 Fed election campaign.
That said, my reaction is F!! Yeah!
That was my first thought as well.
Yes, plus the threats of shareholder actions. The election denial & Dominion lawsuit hurt the company’s value–shareholders are pissed about what came out in discovery. And the Smartmatic case is bigger than Dominion.
They’ll never admit it, but Rupert & Lachlan are worried about the future of the company.
Lizzie Bathory–as well they should be worried. They thought they could ride that fascist media horse forever–or figured once Trump got in, Fox would be secure as the government’s Pravda. In the immortal words of The Right Reverend Jordan Vincent Peele–nope, and nope. 🙂
As much as I would love for there to be a salacious backstory, I agree with this take. There were some great comments on an earlier post about how significant the Dominion settlement really was given the company is *only* worth $100M and as you say, more are coming. I don’t think Fox (or most companies in fairness) care about harassment until it costs them $$. And correct me if I’m wrong CB lawyers, but by severing ties does this mean that Fox no longer has to defend TC, legally or otherwise, in the upcoming lawsuits?
Couldn’t have happened to a better a-hole.
…, “just classic Murdoch assassination — you’re their closest friend, their favorite child and now you’re dead.”
This is absolutely the best way for someone like TC to lose his job. I hope the AG issues continue to follow and impede him.
Don’t discount that in the Dominion discovery, there were a lot of memos of Carlson being critical of Fox management. There was more where that came from, I’m sure. This is something the Murdochs have wanted to do for a while and the two lawsuits provided adequate cover.
That’s what I read as well. And I believe it to be true. They would care much more about him bad mouthing the company then all of the horrible things she said on his show.
Agreed, it was all about what he wrote off air. He will find another market quickly I imagine, although I wish he would fall off the planet.
This is what I think. Tucker was complaining about trump and election denial so the problem was not that he was further right than fox, because he wasn’t. its that he criticized fox in a disrespectful way that the old man cannot accept
That’s what I love about arrogant, hateful dickheads. They invariably go one disastrous step too far. They can’t help it–they always bite their masters and anyone else dumb enough to support them,
This is alienating the Faux News base, and hiring a new Tucker type (or someone worse) later isn’t going to undo the damage. There’s a reason this hurt Fox News stock.
It’s a move to mitigate damage for their lawsuits, but might end up backfiring. Or at the very least, it’s not going to be as helpful as they hope.
Thats why I think it’s a personal (with Murdoch) rather than carefully planned business decision. He would have gone on to make fox money so it’s got to be something else
Sadly I think Fox’s business model is still safe. Bill O’Reilly had better numbers than Tucker and he got sh-t-canned after sexual harassment suits. Tucker is allegedly lawyering up but there is so much evidence in all directions that he can’t get far.
I’m loving this whole journey for Rupert and I love how it’s not over.
I hope Rupert dies miserable and broke.
My understanding is Grossberg has videos, texts, and emails, that outside counsel was hired to investigate her claims, and the termination order came from Rupert Murdoch himself after he saw the investigation report. The large number of past cases of sexual harassment and discrimination cases will be raised to show a longstanding discriminatory climate that Fox knew about and failed to fix, which raises liability.
Several other conservative cesspools are now jockeying for his attention. They don’t care what he did
WOW. fired by the evil duo Murdoch and Lachlan too. so interesting they let their golden goose go…must be insane what they saw as a HUGE liability. didn’t want another repeat sexual harassment circus i guess…
I strongly suspect this has a lot to do with Carlson’s comments about Trump leaking. He’s now known to hate Trump, and it looks like that guy is going to be the GOP nominee again so Tucker had to go.
The Magats and fan bois are having melt downs on Twitter. It’s fun to watch. Twitter post calling out Tucker supporter and internet troll Catt&rd2 who said if Tucker ever got fired he’d take a nail gun to a delicate part of his body…. he he he. … https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/status/1650811724239364098
There were rumors Pirro and that other woman were getting the ax, but nope. Tucker was the first to get chopped. Too many lawsuits already and probably more on the horizon. Fox is also named in that sexual harassment one. I’m sure Fox culture demand you harass women and keep it a hostile work environment, but only if the women are blond. Anything else and is not a worthy victim.
I’ll admit this surprised me – pleasantly, but still. Tucker’s vile charisma isn’t replaceable. So interesting to see what happens next.
Maybe the blond lady who thinks Jesus & Santa are white can be rehired to take tucker’s place.
It will be someone like this absolutely. Completely wack and uncomfortably frustrating.
Heh–isn’t The Malevolent Megyn Kelly just doing podcasts these days? 😉
While I do not like to rejoice in others’ pain, this made my Monday. And I’m sure he will find some one to help him out and make himself a martyr for their cause.
Promoted Testicle Tanning.
Enough said.
Half of me wants to ask you to elaborate on that, but the other half won the coin toss.
Lol!! Seems like he & Goop can go into business with each other.
@Gabby, LMFAOOOOO
Oh, Gabby–trust me, you can’t miss this. And the Twitter comments were killer, too. You’re welcome. 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og61fDoRlXM
Fox is also in the renegotiation period for their cable carrying fees. Apparently they want a huge increase, and they were already getting far more than CNN or MSNBC. Basically, cable channels have two sources of revenue, advertising and carrying fees from the cable companies. Fox News has fees high enough that they are highly profitable even without advertisements. That’s why they can get away with the garbage they spew.
If you have a TV service with Fox News as an option, you are paying Rupert Murdoch around $3 a month for the privilege.
I didn’t know that, that’s interesting…explains why none of the “Boycott Fox Advertisers!” campaigns never went anywhere.
This dude has a gigantic following and will sadly be a huge moneymaker for Blaze TV or Newsmax…OAN or some other shit channel of his choice.
Maybe a podcast? Carlson def has the face for radio however he does not have the voice for it. Then again, that didn’t stop Ben Shapiro from carving out a career in podcasting so if Alvin The Chipmunk can do it, I guess there’s hope for the Swanson heir guy…
Maybe. But how much is his success is just because he’s on Fox News in their prime time spot? Would literally anyone have the highest rated show at that time? I tend to think so.
Rachel Maddow did a great intro last night, tracking the right wing media superstars. They never replicate their success when they change mediums.
Just going by the meltdown I saw among RW Twitter yesterday, I really do think so. I do agree with you though that Primetime Fox slots will be hard if not impossible to replicate. But I think Carlson’s loyal following guarantees him a measure of success no matter where he goes. Wish the rich f*ck would just retire with his millions and lay on a beach somewhere but alas, this guy will die without the attention…
No, not any right-wing nutcase could do what Carlson can do, which is why he’s more dangerous.
He just purchased a $5.1M estate on Gasparilla Island in Florida. Only accessible by boat or helicopter. No autos either. Bunch of wealthy white people is my guess.
I think the lawsuits are just getting started for Fox. Smartmatic is coming up, and I think shareholders will sue too. This ain’t over by a long shot, but they’re tying to stop the bleeding.
He’ll end up at Newmax or that over hate new organization. But this did give me quite the laugh yesterday.
I am hoping he follows Bill O’Reilly into oblivion. I never want to see his smug face again even by accident
I have to admit this surprised me yesterday. Tucker is a rating powerhouse for Fox. He is part of that “green” Murdoch spoke of when he was deposed during the Dominion lawsuit. He brings in the money, and as Murdoch said, that’s what matters most to Fox. Murdoch didn’t care about the lies and misinformation propaganda his lead anchors spun; it was all about the money. However, the other shoe is dropping. Make no mistake, the Fox settlement with Dominion had as its primary purpose to keep him, Hannity, and others from having to admit on the stand that they were pushing the stolen election narrative while mocking it privately at the same time. With the Smartmatics lawsuit still pending, and the other litigation related to Tucker Carlson, he definitely became a liability. Apparently, Smartmatics has said it WILL NOT settle for less than the Dominion figure, and it will demand a full retraction/apology from Fox LOL
In Tucker’s case, he felt safe enough to tell his Fox News colleagues that he “hated Trump passionately” – so what does that say about Fox’s internal culture? It suggests to me an organization that pushes narratives it knows to be false due to greed and political motivation.
So happy to see Carlson get the axe. He was parroting the propaganda of despots and their propaganda apparatus. No doubt Tucker will show up again somewhere, but there is no way he will ever have that kind of platform for his dangerous rhetoric.
Finally – you knew this was coming from The Lincoln Project. They had to take their victory lap🤣 🤣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDjqJdSqoPY
There is a great video out there of a man in Montana telling this p.o.s that he’s ” the worst human being in the world.”. Tucker whispers back so as not to draw attention and foolishly addressed him as “son.” The man rightly got offended and rips him a new one. Glorious.
Question for the lawyers here: will tucker have to hire his own lawyers in the Abby Grossman hostile work environment case? Does it depend on who she names in her suit, Fox News or Tucker personally? I thought they may be trying to save on legal fees, but perhaps that’s besides the point.
I haven’t read the complaint, but I think Tucker is named, as well as several executives & producers (in addition to Fox itself). Either way, Fox’s lawyers represent Fox–they cannot represent the interests of Tucker or any other individual employee since there would be a conflict of interest. Tucker would have to get his own attorneys to represent him.
Interestingly, in this suit, AG alleges that Fox’s lawyers pressured her to lie during her deposition & even deleted evidence from her phone during the Dominion litigation. The attorneys themselves could be in big trouble.
Thanks, LB!
Thank you both for this! I had a similar question upthread. CB lawyers are the best 🙂
A business decision, the insurance premiums have increased substantially. It is too expensive to keep him.
All I can say is Thank goodness!!
Love the top picture.
Bye nasty vile racist lying POS.
I read yesterday that Fox news is going to start a “woke” direction in their reporting. If that is true a lot of us will start hearing apologies from our family and friends. Too little, too late.