Tucker Carlson is relaunching his show—on Twitter
Tucker Carlson apparently values exposure more than dollars.
The former Fox News talk show host, who was abruptly pushed out on April 24, has announced plans to bring his show to Twitter, rather than another network.
“Starting soon, we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six-and-a-half years to Twitter,” he said in a video statement on the platform titled, “We’re back.”
“We’ll be bringing some other things too, which we’ll tell you about,” he added. “But for now we’re just grateful to be here.”
By launching his show on the social network, the controversial host will reportedly give up any severance payments he might have been in line for from Fox. Puck News’ Dylan Byers, on Twitter, wrote, “He will forgo at least $25 million owed to him by Fox Corp. in order to break [his] non-compete clause.”
A separate report from Axios says Carlson accused Fox of fraud and breach of contract, arguing that his noncompete clause was no longer valid. He also alleges he was taken off the air as part of Fox’s settlement with Dominion. Fox denied that statement to Axios, calling it “categorically false.”
Speculation about Carlson’s next move has been brewing since he was fired by Fox. No official reason was given for his dismissal by the network, but in the weeks since the action, leaks have revealed misogynistic and vulgar messages about his coworkers.
Tucker Carlson Tonight was Fox’s most-viewed evening program, averaging 3.2 million viewers during the first quarter. He’s unlikely to hit those same numbers on Twitter. Internal documents released last October showed the site was losing its most-active users.
That said, the far right has increasingly embraced Twitter. A Pew Research poll from earlier this month showed the number of GOP Twitter users who believed the platform was bad for American democracy dropped from 60% in 2021 to 21% now. (Democratic voters, predictably, have grown more critical of the site.)
Carlson, in his video, resumed the media bashing he was famous for, saying “at the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie—a lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind.”
Taking veiled shots at his former employer, he added, “There are always limits. And you know that if you bump up against those limits, often enough you will be fired for it. . . . The rule of what you can’t say defines everything.”
He parroted Elon Musk’s refrain that Twitter is one of the last remaining bastions of free speech in America, saying, “Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world—the only one—is Twitter.”
Carlson was reportedly under contract with Fox through January 2025. Axios reports that since his firing, he was courted by other news outlets, including Newsmax and Rumble, which offered to pay him more than he was making at Fox, a reported $20 million per year.
(23)
