Watch the Moment Tucker Carlson's Exit Was Announced on Fox News

By Allison Schonter

In a shocking announcement, Fox News confirmed this week that it has parted ways with Tucker Carlson, who had served as a host on two separate popular programs in the last 11 years. Just minutes after Fox News confirmed Carlson's departure in a statement, sharing that the television channel and host mutually decided to part ways, Carlson's departure from the network was announced on-air on Monday, April 24 by newscaster Harris Faulkner.
 
Confirming the news with viewers, Faulkner simply read the network's statement verbatim, telling viewers, "We have some news from within our Fox family. Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have mutually agreed to part ways. Tucker's last show was this past Friday, and starting tonight, Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 p.m. ET. It will be an interim show with rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named. We want to thank Tucker Carlson for his service to the network as host, and prior to that, as a long-term contributor." After sharing the news, Faulkner then continued with the program as normal, delving directly into a segment about a Washington state bill that would allow transgender medical procedures for minors without parental consent.

Prior to his abrupt departure, Carlson had hosted Tucker Carlson Tonight five days a week on Fox News since 2016 and occupied the 8 p.m. hour since 2017. He had been with the network for the past 11 years. His show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, was a massive success, averaging 3.32 million viewers last year, the biggest audience in cable news among viewers ages 25 to 54. Carlson's exit from the network came as a shock, as there had been no indication that he was set to leave during his most recent broadcast, which ended with Carlson telling viewers, "We'll be back on Monday."
 
Carlson broke his silence on his exit Wednesday when he shared a cryptic two-minute video on his Twitter account, in which he accused political leaders of silencing voices and shutting down media outlets. In the video, Carlson stated, "You notice when you take a little time off how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are. They're completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years, we won't even remember that we have them. Trust me as someone who's participated." He added, "Yet at the same time – and this is the amazing thing – the undeniably big topics, the ones that will define our future, get virtually no discussion at all: war, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, natural resources."
 
Carlson's was not the only headline-making cable news exit this week. Also on Monday, Don Lemon announced that he was fired from CNN, sharing in a statement, "I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN." Lemon said he was "stunned," adding that "after 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. 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. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play."

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