First it was Fox News‘ Dan Bongino, host of “Unfiltered with Dan Bongino” and talk radio host of “The Dan Bongino Show” who announced that he was parting ways with the network and today we learn that Tucker Carlson was cut loose over the weekend.
Bongino said about the split on his podcast last Thursday, “Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel. It’s tough. It’s tough to say that. You know, I’ve been there doing hits and working there for ten years…so the show ending was tough. And I want you to know it’s not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There’s no acrimony. This wasn’t some WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension.”
Then it was reported on Monday (five days after the Dominion lawsuit settlement) that Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight, ” the top-rated cable news shows in the United States, was given the axe on Monday morning. Los Angeles Times’ sources say that Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch himself gave the order for Carlson to be shown the door even though his show was at the top of the ratings all seven years that he was on the air for the network and currently draws in about 3.5 million viewers every night.
It really comes down to one of two things – after settling with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, either Fox News can’t afford these two guys anymore – OR (and I think this is probably the case), part of the deal with Dominion was to axe a couple of their Fox News employees.
Time will tell if folks like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro keep their jobs.
The stock of Fox Corporation dropped more than 4% after the announcement of Carlson’s departure – and I’m sure the audience watching Fox News will drop a lot more than that without Bongino and Carlson around.
Another TV news guy (if you can call him that) was given the heave ho on Monday as well – Don Lemon was let go by CNN after being a part of the network for 17 years.
Lemon in a statement on Twitter said his agent told him Monday morning that CNN had terminated him.
Lemon tweeted, “I am stunned” and said the management did not have “the decency” to inform him of his firing directly. He went on to say, “At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.” CNN said Lemon’s version of events was inaccurate. That could be true considering that MOST of his versions of events over the years have been inaccurate.
Steve Gruber tweeted about the Monday TV host massacre, “I want Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon to do a show together something like ‘Shut Up You A$$hole.’ It would rule the ratings!”
Sounds like a good plan – kind of a twisted version of Hannity and Colmes.
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