The reason behind Tucker Carlson getting the boot from Fox News came to light, and it turns out it was because of some seriously offensive private messages that left the network’s bigwigs in a state of shock.
The lawyers at Fox News found these messages while they were gearing up for their defense against the big defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. According to The New York Times, the execs only got wind of these messages the day before the trial was supposed to start.
People who saw the messages said they were even more extreme than the controversial comments Carlson was already known for on his prime-time show. This whole mess led Fox to settle the lawsuit with Dominion for a jaw-dropping $787.5 million just a few days after the messages came to light.
Although the actual content of the messages is hidden in legal docs, someone in the know said that one message, in particular, freaked out the top execs at the network.
The New York Times also mentioned that these messages played a big part in Fox’s decision to fire Carlson, who had been a major player in their evening lineup for a long time. The Dominion lawsuit was a major headache for the network, with big names like Carlson and Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch possibly having to testify.
Things got even messier when more texts from Carlson popped up before the trial, showing him making fun of people who were spreading then-President Donald Trump’s baseless election fraud theories during the 2020 race. Carlson later became one of those conspiracy theories’ biggest fans on the show.
The media world was buzzing when Fox News announced that Carlson was out the door effective immediately. No one saw it coming, especially since he’d said he’d be back on the show on Monday. Turns out, Carlson himself only found out he was being let go ten minutes before the news broke.
Carlson went on Twitter to say a quick thanks to his supporters, but he didn’t mention anything about getting fired or Fox News.