Tucker Carlson Out at Fox News After Network Settled Massive Defamation Lawsuit

Tucker Carlson on Tucker Carlson Tonight. (Credit: Fox News)

Fox News and Tucker Carlson have parted ways, effective immediately, the network announced Monday — stunning the cable news industry.

“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” a Fox News Media spokesperson said in a statement on the network’s website.

The announcement that the right-wing host was out came one week after Fox settled a massive defamation lawsuit with tech company Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.

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Dominion initially sued Fox for $1.6 billion over false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which saw then-President Donald Trump lose to Democrat Joe Biden.

The lawsuit said Fox defamed Dominion by repeatedly broadcasting baseless claims that the company paid kickbacks to politicians and that its voting machines “rigged” the election by flipping millions of votes meant for Trump to Biden.

“Fox has admitted to telling lies,” John Poulos, CEO of Dominion, said at a news conference after the case ended.

“We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false,” Fox added in a statement to the media. “This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”

Carlson was a key figure in Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox, which was settled on April 18, just before the case went to trial.

The cable news host, who was a favorite of Trump, repeatedly touted claims that the election was “stolen.”

Some of Carlson’s private text messages were included as evidence in the case.

In one message, as reported by The Associated Press, Carlson said he believed there was fraud in the 2020 election, but that he didn’t buy into some of Trump’s claims. “It’s infuriating. Absolutely enrages me,” Carlson wrote.

While Trump interviews were good for business and ratings, Carlson admitted in another message that he hated Trump “passionately.”

Still, in recent weeks he welcomed the former president back to his show, for Trump’s first big TV interview after he was indicted in New York.

The Tucker Carlson Tonight star launched his self-titled show in 2016.  The program was one of the most popular on the network, bringing in millions of viewers each night.

Fox News said Carlson’s last show was on Friday, April 21.

An interim show titled Fox News Tonight will air at 8 p.m. ET until a permanent replacement for Carlson is named, Fox said. The interim show will have rotating hosts.


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About Anita Bennett

Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.