The popular right-wing cable talk network Fox News has had a rough couple of weeks. In a previous post we talked about their settlement of Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion defamation suit. And in this post will discuss why popular Fox host Tucker Carlson was forced to leave (and how CNN may have used the Carlson news to bury their firing of Don Lemon).
On Monday, April 24, Fox News surprised the world by firing Tucker Carlson, the network’s (and cable TV’s) most popular talk show host. Technically, Fox and Carlson decided to “part ways,” but no one believes that Carlson left the right-wing talk network voluntarily.
Carlson had hosted his show on the previous Friday with no sign that he was going to be leaving the network. In fact, on the morning April 24 there had been a promo airing for his evening show. Washington Post media analyst Erik Wemple wrote that the fact that Carlson was not given a farewell episode meant that management didn’t trust him on the air. This is in sharp contrast with how CNN handled the dismissal of their media critic Brian Stelter in 2022, who was given a final episode to say goodbye.
Big difference is that I rather doubt Stelter was let go for screwing up CNN – suspect management just wanted different programing that might get better ratings/audience. Stelter was not looking to burn the place down on his way out. Tucker? hmmm….. https://t.co/cSD85q4VnU
— RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) April 24, 2023
At the time of Carlson’s dismissal from Fox, there was a lot of speculation on why he was let go.
One theory is that it was the discovery materials from the Dominion lawsuit featuring sexist/racist messages from Carlson:
Update: I have spoken with three people with knowledge of Fox's ouster of Tucker Carlson
They say Carlson's digital exchanges captured by the Dominion legal team echo the suite of concerns alleged by his ex producer – that his show's workplace was defined by sexism and bigotry.
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) April 25, 2023
While there was speculation that Carlson’s negative messages about former President Donald Trump led to his dismissal, the Wall Street Journal suggested that it was Carlson’s negative messages about Fox management that did him in:
Tucker Carlson said his negative comments about Trump were just said in a moment of anger & frustration.
But his comments about his bosses at Fox were real & enduring. He truly dislikes them.
That's why Fox fired him.
Remarkable WSJ story—open link.https://t.co/85FdCkbc6w
— (((Charles Fishman))) 💧 (@cfishman) April 26, 2023
A few days after Carlson’s firing, the New York Times argued that it was a racist text message about “how white men fight” might have been the triggering cause, but lots of his critics note that Carlson routinely said things like that on his show.
So this may be the text that got Tucker fired: “ Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight. Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him.” https://t.co/WOqru8ZX10
— RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) May 3, 2023
“But if the board was genuinely concerned, perhaps it should have paid attention to Carlson’s nightly output over the past six years. There was plenty of racism on “Tucker Carlson Tonight…” https://t.co/qQ9BGm2Owf
— RalphIsNow@rhanson40@threads.net (@ralphehanson) May 4, 2023
Lost in the fog of gossip-worthy media has been the fact that CNN may well have used the timing of Carlson’s firing to minimize the news of their firing of long-time host Don Lemon for making sexist comments, including a disparaging remark that GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley was “past her prime.” If so, it seems to have been largely successful. Though to be fair, Lemon’s firing really didn’t approach the level of Carlson’s:
And now Don Lemon! https://t.co/o2vJAW6iGf
— Paul Farhi (@farhip) April 24, 2023
The @donlemon era comes to an end at CNN. Latest from me and @ElaheIzadi: https://t.co/vWVRNDLocW
— Paul Farhi (@farhip) April 24, 2023