Lachlan Murdoch and Suzanne Scott Decided to Fire Tucker Carlson on Friday Night
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Tucker Carlson’s ouster from Fox News was officially decided in a Friday night conversation between Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, Mediaite has learned.
The cable news network announced that it was parting ways with the host of 8 p.m. show Tucker Carlson Tonight and that his last appearance on Fox was Friday. Fox’s statement shared no reasoning for why the network’s top-rated host was abruptly fired, prompting many to speculate about why Carlson was shown the door.
A source familiar with the decision told Mediate that Murdoch and Scott discussed Carlson’s fate on Friday evening after a tortuous week that saw the cable news behemoth settle a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems for nearly $800 million.
The Wall Street Journal has more details on the specifics
Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said.
Details surrounding Carlson’s sudden exit are still emerging. Fox News insiders told Mediaite that the prime time host’s conspiratorial coverage and penchant for internal pot-stirring made him a pariah within the network. In the weeks before opening arguments were set to start in the Dominion trial — which put an unflattering spotlight on Fox’s reporting failures in the aftermath of the 2020 election — Carlson was casting the Jan. 6 rioters as victims.
Also as a result of that bombshell case, Carlson was battered by the revelation of texts and emails obtained by Dominion lawyers in discovery which showed him trashing network leadership, revealing he “hates” Trump, and using the most derogatory terms imaginable toward women.
It remains unclear what exactly prompted the Friday night decision to axe Carlson. It isn’t a stretch to imagine Carlson is being held accountable for a series of controversies, and the apparent toxic work environment may or may not have been used as a pretext to finally part ways with the controversial cable news personality.
