Photo: Getty Images
Tucker Carlson is no longer a Fox News host.
Fox News released a statement saying, “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."
The statement gives no reason for Carlson's departure, and Carlson himself has not commented.
Carlson drew the network's largest audience with his 8pm show. Last year, his Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged 3.3 million total viewers.
The network said the time slot will be filled by “rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.”
The news comes less than a week after Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, though it's not clear if the two developments are related.
**Carlson's contract was renewed in 2021. He will be paid out for the rest of his contract. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year. Sources say he found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure.
**Some said there was speculation Rupert Murdoch wanted to sell the network, and it was easier without him. A Fox News source told DailyMail.com: 'Tucker still hasn't been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin Wells was fired too. We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and it's harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star. Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy.' Carlson has declined to comment on his firing.
Source: WSJ.
Photo Credit: Jason Koerner/Getty Images.