Tucker Carlson 'Parts Ways' With Fox News Amid $787M Settlement With Dominion

Fox Corp FOX FOXA and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways, the media company said in an abrupt statement Monday.

What Happened: The announcement comes amidst the fallout from the network's recent $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over false allegations of fraud related to the 2020 election.

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 continued, “Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday, April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named."

Some media critics say that the most telling part of Fox’s release is that Carlson won’t get a final show, nor the chance to say goodbye to his fans.

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While the reasons for Carlson's departure aren’t clear at the moment, it is impossible to ignore the timing of the event, coinciding with the Dominion lawsuit settlement.

Critics of the settlement argue that, although the payout is substantial, the lack of public accountability means the network may not learn from its costly mistake.

The lawsuit alleged that Fox News hosts, including Carlson and Sean Hannity, knew the claims of election fraud were baseless but chose not to reveal this publicly. According to Dominion, the motive behind this decision was Fox News' falling viewership after accurately calling Arizona for Joe Biden, which triggered a backlash among their audience.

Private text messages between Fox journalists and hosts, including owner Rupert Murdoch — who also owns News Corp NWSA NWS — and Carlson, revealed they acknowledged the lack of evidence supporting the claims of election fraud.

In one message, Carlson said "There wasn't enough fraud to change the outcome" of the election and later commented that Sidney Powell, one of Donald Trump's attorneys, "is lying," despite the network's promotion of the false voter fraud narrative.

Part of the settlement was that Fox didn’t have to publicly announce that they lied about election interference.

Why It Matters: Though, despite his exit from Fox, Carlson's future in the media landscape may not be as bleak as it seems.

History has shown that high-profile figures such as Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly have successfully landed on their feet after leaving the network. In fact, Carlson's departure could be a significant opportunity for competitors like Newsmax or One America News Network to secure the popular host for their platforms.

Social media is already buzzing with speculation that conservative-leaning platform Rumble Inc RUM may aggressively pursue Carlson in an attempt to bolster its content offerings.

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Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Creative Commons