On Monday, Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News, where he hosted the highest-rated primetime show, a show full of racism, sexism, misogyny, bigotry, jingoism and white supremacy. Carlson perfectly encapsulated the Fox News ethos, as far as I could tell, which is why his dismissal was a surprise. In the past 36 hours or so, people have theorized about why it happened and just what the “breaking point” really was. Was it Fox News’s settlement with Dominion Voting Systems last week after Carlson made “violent subversion of the republic” his cause du jour? The thing is, that too was Fox News’s policy – Carlson was far from the only talking head spreading “rigged election” conspiracies. Was Carlson’s dismissal about Abby Grossman’s lawsuit? Perhaps – I saw Grossman interviewed by Nicolle Wallace yesterday, and Grossman has a wealth of evidence to back up her claims of sexism, antisemitism and a hostile workplace. But what if the reason for Carlson’s firing was something altogether different?
The mystery remains: Why did Fox News take its biggest star off the air? A new theory has emerged. According to the source, Fox Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch removed Carlson over remarks Carlson made during a speech at the Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary gala on Friday night. Carlson laced his speech with religious overtones that even Murdoch found too extreme, the source, who was briefed on Murdoch’s decision-making, said.
Carlson told the Heritage audience that national politics has become a manichean battle between “good” and “evil.” Carlson said that people advocating for transgender rights and DEI programs want to destroy America and they could not be persuaded with facts. “We should say that and stop engaging in these totally fraudulent debates…I’ve tried. That doesn’t work,” he said. The answer, Carlson suggested, was prayer. “I have concluded it might be worth taking just 10 minutes out of your busy schedule to say a prayer for the future, and I hope you will,” he said.
“That stuff freaks Rupert out. He doesn’t like all the spiritual talk,” the source said.
It’s been reported that Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott made the decision to fire Carlson on Friday night. Another source, a person close to Murdoch, has said something similar to me. Scott informed Carlson of the decision on Monday morning.
Rupert Murdoch was perhaps unnerved by Carlson’s messianism because it echoed the end-times worldview of Murdoch’s ex-fiancée Ann Lesley Smith, the source said. In my May cover story, I reported that Murdoch and Smith called off their two-week engagement because Smith had told people Carlson was “a messenger from God.” Murdoch had seen Carlson and Smith discuss religion firsthand. In late March, Carlson had dinner at Murdoch’s Bel Air vineyard with Murdoch and Smith, according to the source. During dinner, Smith pulled out a bible and started reading passages from the Book of Exodus, the source said. “Rupert just sat there and stared,” the source said. A few days after the dinner, Murdoch and Smith called off the wedding. By taking Carlson off the air, Murdoch was also taking away his ex’s favorite show.
The 92-year-old mogul’s broken engagement is part of a string of erratic decisions he has made of late that raises questions about Murdoch’s leadership of his media empire. According to sources, executives at Fox are worried about Murdoch’s unsteady hand at the wheel of the company. “It’s like the King is senile but no one wants to say anything,” the source said.
VF also suggests (accurately, imo) that there was a real fear within Murdoch’s empire that Rupert would have to testify in the Dominion case and that he would come across like a doddering, out-of-it old man. As in, they really did settle with Dominion for $787.5 million to keep Rupert off the stand. As for the broken engagement with Ann Lesley Smith… we now know that Jerry Hall believed Rupert dumped her because he met Ann Lesley. Rupert thought he met some hot-to-trot gal who knew, ultimately, that the Evangelical sh-t is just a scam. Turned out that Smith is a true believer and Rupert noped out of there, then he fired Tucker Carlson because Tucker plays up the Christofascist ideology? Hey, it’s an explanation I can live with. The truth is, Rupert had hundreds of reasons to fire Carlson and it was probably a combination of different things.
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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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Nah, I just think the GOP is shifting strategy and they are de-Trumping Fox News, which tells me that Trump is about to go down …
Until just before the GOP primaries/election and they’ll be back on the band wagon unfortunately.
Then why did they put Brian Kilmeade in Carlson’s spot on Monday night? He’s MAGA all the way.
He’s basically the tackling dummy of Fox News hosts.
And MAGA-tts are jumping all over him for ‘disloyalty’.
Fox is firmly back in Trump’s corner. Tucker was fired because he thought he was bigger than the network and Rupert was fed up.
Fox and Tucker had a fraught relationship with no love lost between either of them, but they kept Tucker around long past his sell-by date because he kept their ratings up. But he cost them $787.5 million, which isn’t exactly chump change.
Rolling Stone magazine reported that Fox has an “oppo file” on Tucker that is chock full of dirt which they won’t hesitate to spill if he gets any ideas about suing Fox for firing him.
Here’s a theory: Smith dumped Murdoch because he is a horrible, doddering old man and Murdoch exacted revenge by firing her favorite. Maybe she even dumped him because she liked TC better. Hard to find anybody to place sympathy with here.
I like it. It’s as good a theory as any.
Maybe it was the pleated Dockers.
So damn preppy! 🧑💼
Yes, I had also heard that Murdoch senior is effectively no longer in control of his faculties anymore. Is 787 billion (or whatever) even a big fine for Fox? I didn’t have the hope that Dominion was going to bring Fox down but I am disappointed they agreed to settle.
It is always a crap shoot when things go to trial and $787 million is a ton of money and makes a strong point that Fox was wrong they knew it.
They settled because the judge appointed a special master to investigate documents withheld by Rupert. Whatever was in those documents was worth nearly $800 million, apparently.
The special master moves it into a criminal obstruction case. The civil matter being settled doesn’t end the obstruction investigation.
The special master investigation was nixed as soon as they settled.
It’s about 5% of their net worth or something, so yes, it is a big chunk of money, but probably one they can survive losing.
But can they keep losing. Smartmatic is next. And they get to use all the stuff Dominion had on Fox. So Fox will have to pay out a lot more to them than to Dominion. Plus the producer suing them. And the shareholders. All of that is coming up. Thats why they got rid of Tucker. They couldn’t control him to back off of all this. He just became a loose cannon. And look in the near future at Hannity, Ingraham, and Judge Jennine getting let go also. Especially Jennine. She can’t seem to stop herself either.
I just learned the word “jingoism.”
@mariajl – It’s become a really useful word over the last few years, unfortunately!
almost everything comes down to sex, power & money, even religion. so I say it was the money tucker was about to cost them. on his own tucker doesn’t seem powerful enough for rupert to care about, especially when his platform is taken from him. i do think that tucker is a bonafide psychopath — he seems to live to inflict pain on other people.
I agree business devision don’t believe Fox will reform
I love this for everyone involved
He was fired as he cost Murdoch too much money over the Dominion lawsuit. We know Murdoch will go all out to protect his favourites (Rebecca Brookes) – Tucker was the useful idiot until he wasn’t.
Tucker is a convenient way to hide your balls
I don’t think that’s the full story here either. I think he was fired bc he refused to stop doing what he was doing on his show, which could potentially continue to cost Murdoch more money down the pipe in terms of lawsuits.
I can see a convo happening where Murdoch politely asked TC to tone it down in the best interests of the company, and Tucker Carlson being a frat boy and refusing to be censored by anyone bc he wants to stick it to the libs. That’s why he was fired. These conservatives are going to learn real fast that they can oppose cancel culture all they like, but will they ever oppose it when it really starts hurting the thing they love the most in this world, money? The answer here, as Tucker Carlson found out, is a fat resounding no.
I thought the firing was bc TC had been talking sh*t about Fox management/the Murdochs. This “excuse” seems too convenient, esp after the very plausible excuses of firing him due to the Dominion settlement and the sexual harassment lawsuit (where the is allegedly lots of evidence). Does the Murdoch empire employ the same pr people as the BRF cause this newest flimsy explanation wasn’t needed at all. The link between the ex fiancee and TC is interesting though…
On his YouTube channel, Jimmy Dore had a good take on why Tucker was fired. Everything is speculation at this point, of course.
So he pedals in mass fear mongering and hate politics that directly supports christian facist policies but gets the icks when people speak Christian facism in front of him? Nah, next
It’s a very weak argument. I think it suits some people who promote that ‘war on Christianity’ BS. I also think some people are positioning themselves to push out Rupert on the basis of senility & take over. There will be more articles along this vein.
Will Rupert Murdoch find love again? Is Tucker Carlson really a messenger from god? These are questions that need answers.
But really, this is just pathetic. Rupert should sit down and quit causing trouble for everyone on this planet.
But that would leave Lachlan in charge and he is far right of his far right father.
Please, universe, let South Park do this episode
I think there is a lot more, a great deal more, as to why they settled and it’s not just to protect his image.
As for TC, I always feel bad when people lose their jobs, but he was reportedly making $20M a year and a net worth of $400M – I’ll save my sympathy for those who need and deserve it.
TC’s wife is the heir to the Swanson fortune. So lotttssss of money
LOL, Rupert got to experience first hand the world he was trying to build for the rest of us and got the squicks. Perhaps he thought his ivory tower would insulate him from having to deal with this bull shit himself? Christofacism for thee, but not for me. He should have listened to Jerry instead of messing around.
LOVE IT! I mean, it’s terrible for us in the general world but I love that everything Rupert has built up has come back to hurt him… if it is the religious stuff
I saw online this morning that the Murdochs have a fat dossier on Carlson and that’s why he’s being vewy vewy qwiet rn. Reminiscent of how Bill O’Reilly disappeared after Fox fired him. They’ve got a sh!t ton of reasons to fire him, so I believe it’s a combination of the immense Dominion settlement, the Abby Goodman litigation, maybe his ex’s worship of TC, maybe his criticism of Fox management, maybe even his Christofascism. In the end, it doesn’t matter. TC is fired, his career is effectively torched with every major media outlet, but he’s financially set for life. We’re going to need a smaller violin.
Now this I believe.
I don’t for a minute believe that Carlson’s firing was principled in any way — there is absolutely no line that Murdoch won’t cross, and happily. My bet is that this is about Carlson dissing Fox execs in his texts, and generally projecting the sense that he’s bigger than Fox. That, and the money.
Imagining Tucker’s Exit Interview…https://twitter.com/ElijahCone/status/1650568071675797511
So Murdoch fired Carlson for the same reason as he broke off his engagement. I feel like the religion talk might be a smokescreen for “Tucker was sleeping with the boss’s girlfriend and they got caught”
Ugh – I just threw up in my mouth.
Tucker doesn’t swing that way.
While I believe that he broke up with his fiance over the religion stuff (was she maybe trying to proselytize to him? I’d say that’s likely, and that can be annoying enough to warrant ending a relationship), I don’t think that he fired Tucker Carlson bc of that speech.
For starters, Tucker Carlson is a fake. I do not think for a second he is actually nearly as religious as he purports himself to be, in this speech. Second of all, consider the context–he was giving a speech to a gathering of people from The Heritage Foundation. I don’t think that Rupert Murdoch is so out of it that he doesn’t realize the specifics of the politics at play here, and the audience that Tucker Carlson is no doubt pandering to.
Third of all, what is there in anything else Tucker Carlson said in that speech that Murdoch does not already promote through his media outlets? Calling trans people fighting for their rights “evil” is something that the Fail does every day that ends with ‘y’. Railing against diversity and inclusion and calling attempts to dismantle white supremacy in America and elsewhere “evil” is bog standard rhetoric on Fox News by this point. Murdoch has never objected to those talking points; it’s made him tons of money. Tucker Carlson playing to The Heritage Foundation audience, an audience full of people who enthusiastically watch Fox News for the exact things that Carlson said, has never been something that Rupert Murdoch would oppose. He might be annoyed by the overt religiosity of it, but then again, thinking something is stupid has never stopped this man making money off of it, has it.
I also don’t think that the only reason he fired Carlson was purely to stick it to his ex-fiance. I think that was just the icing on the cake for him, and a pleasant bonus. But I don’t think it’s the full reason, and the religion stuff isn’t the full reason either. This is a spin. A clever spin; it’s funny and pithy and makes the intended audience chuckle to itself and get distracted. But it’s just a spin. Nice try, F-ckface Murdoch.
Murdoch and Fox News are vile!
Nothing but divide, divide, divide, Us vs. Them, fear mongering, constant sh*t stirring, feeding on peoples fears and paranoid tendencies.
I have older family members who are homebound, and I can tell when they’ve been following Fox News, makes them convinced the world is in End Days, everybody is out to make them victims, SS is going to end, on and on.
Fox News is NOT Walter Cronkite, turn that garbage OFF.
I think it’s because one of the Big three—Hannity, ingraham or Carlson had to go in the wake of the revelations.
1) They *all* talked smack about execs and ingraham started the ‘we’re so powerful, let’s flex’ stuff in the group chat. They were all aware the fraud talk was bs. So they’re equal there.
2) they all do bs right wing talking points on their shows. Tucker just takes it to the most vile level.
3) tucker had the biggest audience in cable but much smaller revenue because advertisers had largely decamped.
4) hannity and ingraham have been there a good while. Hannity since the beginning. They’re team players ultimately. Tucker was getting a messiah complex.
5) the Abby grossberg lawsuit which is going to unleash even more bad pr and legal liability. And like a bunch of money.
Ultimately firing Carlson will make a point to the other two who are awful but less radical and easier to put in their place than Tucker. Meanwhile they lose a big ratings winner but a pr nightmare who doesn’t bring in commensurate money. And Hannity and ingraham aren’t facing separate lawsuits in addition.