Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News Channel host beloved by the New Right and MAGA Republicans, is reportedly partnering with his conservative allies to unleash a massive wave of attacks on Fox News. The goal, reportedly, is to get Fox News to back down and let him out of his contract, which doesn’t end until January 2025.
Such is what was reported by Axios, which claims that Fox News wants to pay Tucker $20 million a year to not work anywhere else or do anything else, but that Tucker doesn’t plan on accepting that and is going to fight back. Speaking on that, his high-powered lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told Axios, “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.” Similarly, another source said that Carlson “knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and is ready to start drawing a map.”
What Tucker wants, Axios reports, is for a “quick and clean” settlement of his conflict with Fox News that lets him move on and start speaking to a large audience again. But to get there he’s preparing for a bare-knuckled fight, as a source told Axios, saying, “Now, we’re going from peacetime to Defcon 1. His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom.”
⚡ NEW: @Axios has learned @TuckerCarlson and @elonmusk have discussed working together but didn't talk specifics
• Carlson is plotting his own media empire. But he needs Fox to let him out of his contract
• He's gotten offers that'd pay more than Fox https://t.co/1SsKQEguV2
— Mike Allen (@mikeallen) May 7, 2023
What Tucker would do after getting out of his contract with Fox News is still up in the air. On one hand, he could try to start his own conservative media outlet. He already did so with the Daily Caller, though he no longer owns it, so it’s conceivable that he could attempt to use his fame to build a new, more populist media outlet.
Or he could work with any of the various existing media outlets that have offered to hire him. Matt Gaetz seemingly suggested recently that Tucker would work with Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe with the O’Keefe Media Group (OMG). Newsmax has offered to hire Tucker as well, pitching him a deal where he could run the whole network. TMZ, reporting on that potential deal, said: “While our sources stress Newsmax hasn’t formally offered Tucker a job — he can’t have formal discussions due to his current Fox News contract — we’re told the network execs have made it clear to people around him, they would basically give him a big say in rebranding their channel.”
Finally, Tucker has also reportedly been in communication with tech mogul Elon Musk about possibly working together, so that could be possible too.
Fox News, for its part, has felt some serious ratings pain since it infuriated many of its formerly loyal fans and fired Tucker, so it seems to be playing dirty in an attempt to fight back against Tucker. The Daily Caller, reporting on that, said:
Fox News’ ratings in the 8 p.m. time slot have plummeted since ousting its top-rated prime time host from the network, particularly in the key 25-54 demographic. On the first night without Carlson, the new program had a rating of 0.24 in the 25-54 age demographic. Carlson’s show previously saw a 0.37 rating in the same demographic April 17, Show Buzz Daily data found.
Liberal outlets such as Media Matters for America and The New York Times recently obtained Fox News’ footage of Carlson joking about a woman looking “yummy” — which he clarified was a joke — and criticizing Fox News’ streaming service, Fox Nation, accusing those in charge of allegedly failing to fix the website. Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News anchor, accused Fox senior executive Irena Briganti of quietly releasing the footage to liberal outlets because they “hate” Carlson. Briganti denied these allegations in a statement to The Daily Caller.
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