Since Tucker Carlson was unceremoniously ousted from Fox News in late April, there’s been a relative calm before the storm. Well, the storm is now on the horizon, and the former top-rated cable host is getting ready to go to war with the embattled network Fox.
Axios reports that Carlson wants to be released from his contract which binds him until January 2025 so he can create his own media empire. Carlson will make the lives and careers of Fox News executives miserable to achieve this.
Axios reports that Tucker Carlson plans to use allies against Fox News to pressure the network to let him work for a rival right-wing media outlet or to start one.
Bryan Freedman is the powerful Hollywood lawyer Carlson hired to handle the contract dispute. He told Axios that the idea of anyone trying to silence Tucker or prevent him from talking to his audience was “beyond preposterous.”
Why It’s Important: Tucker vs. Fox may reshape conservative news. Fox, which has suffered a ratings drop in Carlson’s slot ever since he left 13 days ago wants to pay him $20 million per year to not work.
Axios learned that Carlson was busy planning his own media empire. He needs Fox to release him from his contract that expires after the 2025 presidential election.
This shows that the Fox News executives who thought Carlson would go away quietly miscalculated. No one spoke up during the meetings prior to Carlson being fired and suggested that a risk analysis be conducted. Did those who made the decision not even take a second to consider what would happen? Did they think that they could fire the most influential and popular conservative commentator of recent history without any unintended consequences?
Consider how badly this has turned out for Fox News. They lost their most popular star, which was already a huge mistake. The loss of Carlson also affected the ratings for the entire primetime lineup. You also have to worry about the damage done to Fox News’ brand as conservatives snub the network. Carlson will now set the building on fire to try to gain his independence.
Fox News absorbs all of that, but for what? Carlson was reportedly fired over a simple text message where he made a mildly racist comment (about the way “white men” fought) which he then reversed in another text. Fox News destroyed itself, at least temporarily, in order to prevent Media Matters from gnashing its teeth for a few days. Do you think that’s a fair trade-off?
This will go down in media history as one of its biggest mistakes. It would have been smarter for Fox News to wait until Carlson’s contract expired before deciding to let go of him. It’s laughable how the network handled this. This is so self-destructive that it almost sounds like a parody. If Rupert Murdoch made the final decision, he might want to consider firing himself.
