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Fox News most popular prime-time host Tucker Carlson has parted ways with Fox News, an American multinational conservative television channel.
Carlson’s exit was made known on Monday after less than a week that Fox News and its parent Fox Corp (FOXA.O) settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.
The network host was leaving following a series of controversies, marking a seismic shift in the media landscape, according to Reuters.
Carlson was billed to be a crucial witness in the trial surrounding Fox’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been manipulated in favour of Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated incumbent Donald Trump.
Carlson will not have a final farewell show, instead, his last program on the network aired Friday.
“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” Fox News said in a statement.
His exit was hinged on the fact that Carlson was a top promoter of conspiracy theories and radical rhetoric at the network who repeatedly sow doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
He also promoted conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccines and elevated white nationalist talking points.
Carlson was a key figure in Dominion Voting Systems’ mammoth defamation lawsuit against Fox News. It was rightly believed that he played a massive role in the litigation, hence, the cause for his departure.
Carlson’s next move is unclear as his prime-time show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” had been the highest-rated cable news program in the key 25-to-54 age demographic, Reuters said.
The programme regularly attracted more than 3 million nightly viewers on Fox, the most-watched US cable news network.
