Yesterday brought news of a host of host firings and leavings, the most shocking of which was Tucker Carlson at Fox News.
Tucker Carlson, the provocative, conservative prime-time host who sustained Fox News as a ratings juggernaut, has been forced out of the network.
Fox News announced the stunning departure of its top-rated host Monday with no explanation, but people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly said the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch with input from board members and other Fox Corp. executives.
According to one person familiar with the discussions, Murdoch’s son Lachlan, executive chairman of Fox Corp., and Suzanne Scott, chief executive of Fox News Media, decided late Friday that Carlson had to go.
Carlson’s last show was Friday.
“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network said in a statement. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
This follows the exit of Dan Bongino last week and rumors that Maria Bartiromo will go, too.
Seems like Fox is bleeding off whatever remaining conservatives are still at the network. Sure, Hannity is a conservative, but he’s a largely ineffective conservative. He’s not a movement leader. I haven’t watched him in years because he talks too much about himself and is too predictable. He’s a soft and comfortable conservative.
Greg Gutfeld is a weird dude who isn’t all that funny but has parlayed a humorous schtick into a regular show torching liberals. He also burns Geraldo Rivera during The Five, but that doesn’t mean he’s a movement leader.
Tucker Carlson was the only reason I ever tuned into Fox News anymore. He was smart, bold, and insightful. His monologues were often shared and talked about. Now that he’s gone, I can’t think of a single reason to watch. It’ll be interesting to see what happens — it sort of feels like a Bud Light moment. When you alienate your core audience, I’m not sure what they expect will happen.
Over at CNN, Don Lemon — or, as Tucker called him, Don le Mon — was fired after 17 years with the network. A boorish gay news personality, Lemon had tested the patience of new CEO Chris Licht with his antics during his demoted gig as a morning show anchor with two women.
CNN fired longtime host Don Lemon on Monday following his short and disastrous run as a morning show host, a little over two months after he apologized for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being past her prime.
The move quickly turned nasty. While CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced, after Lemon had co-hosted the show Monday, that they had “parted ways,” Lemon characterized it as a firing and said it was surprise to him.
“After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly,” Lemon said. CNN said that Lemon was given the opportunity to meet with management but released a statement on Twitter instead.
CNN offered no public explanation for Lemon’s dismissal. During a February discussion on “CNN This Morning” with co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins about the ages of politicians, he said that the 51-year-old Haley was not “in her prime.” A woman, he said, was considered in her prime “in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.”
Harlow challenged Lemon, trying to clarify what he was referencing: “I think we need to qualify. Are you talking about prime for childbearing or are you talking about prime for being president?”
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are,” Lemon responded.
Licht apparently decided that le Mon was past his prime. I never watched CNN, so my viewing habits won’t be affected by his ouster.
I think Licht is trying to pull CNN rightward after its sojourn into Trump Derangement Syndrome on the far left during Trump’s administration. On the other hand, it looks like Rupert Murdoch is pulling Fox News leftward from a more centrist position. It has a reputation for being a “conservative” network, but guys like Bret Baier, Geraldo Rivera, Jessica Tarlov, and former hosts Shepherd Smith, Juan Williams, and Chris Wallace, to varying degrees, aren’t and weren’t true conservatives. In addition, Fox News also has former House Speaker and RINO Paul Ryan on its board, and Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert’s son, is no conservative.
Carlson will be a hot commodity on the open market. Wherever he lands his audience will follow. Fox News will experience a severe drop in its ratings, and whoever picks up Carlson will experience a spike in theirs.
