Less than a week after parent firm Fox Corp (FOXA.O) settled a defamation claim in which star host Tucker Carlson was prominently involved for $787.5 million, Fox News Media and its top-rated host have mutually decided to part ways.
Fox News said in a statement that it and Carlson had agreed to “part ways.”
“We thank him for his service to the network,” Fox said in a statement on the top-rated host, noting that Carlson’s last show was on Friday.
Justin Wells, the senior executive producer of Tucker Carlson Tonight, was also let go on Monday, according to various sources.
Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott took the decision to fire Carlson and his producer on Friday night, according to a source familiar with the situation.
In an effort to defend its reporting, Fox labeled the lawsuit a “political crusade in search of a financial windfall.”
In February, Dominion submitted court documents as part of its discovery process that included emails, texts, testimony, and other private communications from Fox News employees, including Carlson, that seemed to cast doubt on claims involving Dominion—as opposed to what they said to their viewers on-air.
According to the Dominion complaint, on November 8, Carlson privately texted his producer, calling the accusations against Dominion “absurd.”
The producer of Carlson texted him about his own doubts later that day.
“I don’t think there is evidence of voter fraud that swung the election,” producer Alex Pfeiffer texted to Carlson, per the lawsuit. “The software s–t is absurd,” Carlson allegedly responded.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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