Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Given The Boot By Rupert Murdoch
Image: AP Photo/Richard Drew/AAP Photos
Fox News announced it was parting ways with far-right news host Tucker Carlson. Carlson is known for his ongoing hostile attacks against the LGBTQI community and for platforming right-wing conservative talking points.
In a statement made by the network, they thanked him “for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
The statement also outlined that Carlson’s last episode was on Friday the 8 pm slot would be on a rotation of different personalities until a new permanent host is selected.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Carlson only found out about it ten minutes before it was announced. The Los Angeles Times reported that the decision came from Rupert Murdoch, along with some input from senior officials.
This break up comes after less than a week since Fox agreed to pay $US787 million ($1.2 billion) in settlement from the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s past airings of false claims of the 2020 presidential election.
His Anti-LGBTQ+ Past
Carlson’s departure from the network will see few tears shed from the LGBTQI community, as the former Fox host continually made homophobic and transphobic remarks.
One incident led to an LGBTQI activist group calling for Fox News to be banned from Canadian cable after Carlson’s anti-trans comments following the mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, in March this year.
When it was revealed that the shooter was trans, Carlson stated that “the trans movement is targeting Christians, including with violence.”
Carlson had also accused the US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg of lying about being gay in November 2022, taking aim at Buttigieg for continuously wanting “to talk about identity.”
“And the funny, ironic thing is, until just a few years ago, Pete Buttigieg wouldn’t even admit he was gay,” Carlson said. “He hid that and then lied about it for reasons he has never been asked to explain. Why not?”
In September of 2022, Carlson also went after healthcare officials and schools that provide gender-affirming care, labelling them as “criminals” and also comparing being transgender to a “fad.”
