Top Fox News Anchors Looking To Jump Ship, Join Tucker Carlson: Report
Jon Dougherty May 26, 2023
Some big names at Fox News may be gone in the near future as well, according to a report published on Thursday.
Variety reported that a handful of current Fox News talent are contemplating throwing in with whatever project former top-rated host Tucker Carlson may be working on, which could include programming that would be broadcast on Twitter.
The report comes after Carlson strongly hinted earlier this month in a video posted to the platform that he was preparing to air a program live on Twitter.
“Carlson’s Twitter move could have additional reverberations with talent at the network. A handful of Fox anchors have reached out to Carlson directly or had their surrogates contact him to say they are eager to join whatever venture he starts on Twitter when their contracts are up, according to sources,” Variety reported.
Carlson currently remains under contract with Fox News at a reported $20 million a year, so he isn’t free to sign on with another network. Reports said his contract doesn’t expire until after the 2024 election, in January 2025.
Variety also reported that Carlson was taken off the air as a condition of Fox’s recent defamation settlement:
On April 26, Carlson spoke by phone with one of Fox Corp.’s eight board members, who told the host that his recent benching was a condition of Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation.
The unnamed board member told Carlson that the condition does not appear in any of the settlement’s documents, and instead was a verbal agreement. If Fox didn’t comply, the settlement was off, Carlson was told. Dominion had plenty of leverage given that the $787.5 million deal to settle Dominion’s defamation suit against the network wouldn’t officially close until late May.
The outlet went on to report that while Dominion’s defamation claims rested mostly on accusations aired post-2020 election on programs hosted by Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, and Maria Bartiromo, the company wanted to hurt Fox and, as such, chose to press the network into cutting ties with its most popular talent: Carlson.
“That condition was intended to hurt Fox, and Tucker is just collateral damage,” a source familiar with the matter told Variety. “Dominion wanted to punish Fox, and it’s working.”
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