Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson reportedly called a Fox News executive “the c-word” in a text message, and it was narrowly kept from going public during the embattled cable network’s legal fight with Dominion Voting Systems.
Weeks before Carlson was fired, Fox News lawyers came to the the veteran newsman with what they assumed to be a win for their side: Text messages in which Carlson “called a senior Fox News executive the c-word” would be redacted from a legal filing, according to the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Carlson, Fox News’s most-watched prime-time host, wasn’t impressed. He told his colleagues that he wanted the world to know what he had said about the executive in a private message, the people said.
Apparently, Carlson had “showed disregard for management and colleagues” during his last years at the network, and the perception that “Tucker Carlson Tonight” existed as its own “island” – separate from the network – combined with the “disregard” “were a major factor” in the decision to fire him earlier this week.
Gage Skidmore / Flickr
The Wall Street Journal does not name the executive who Carlson reportedly referred to as “the c-word,” but it does note that Fox News Chief Executive Suzanne Scott “made the decision to oust” Carlson alongside Fox Corp. Executive Chair Lachlan Murdoch.
As recently as last month, Mediaite reported there was a growing feud between Scott and Carlson, and described the former host as going “rogue” in his relationship with management after “years” of being at odds with Scott:
Yet insiders told Mediaite that Scott and Wallace have no control over what Carlson does between 8 and 9 p.m., one of the most-watched hours in all of television.
“No one has control over Tucker,” one former Fox News veteran told me. “I don’t even know if the Murdochs do.”
At the time, Carlson denied the reports of a feud, and insisted he had a good working relationship with Scott.
Last night at 8 p.m., his prior time slot at Fox News, Carlson posted a short video to Twitter that seems to hint at his plans for the future. He also took swipes at cable news, calling it “irrelevant” and “stupid.”
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
