Fox News has released a statement (below) announcing that Tucker Carlson and the company have parted ways. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” the network said in a statement. This past Friday was his last show.

I thought Tucker was one of the company’s most valuable assets. The Hill observes that Carlson was Fox’s top-rated prime time host, netting an average of more than three million viewers per night, the most of any such show on cable. This does not even take into account his efforts to build an audience for the Fox Nation online platform.

However, I infer from the nature of the announcement — this is purely my speculation — that Tucker’s departure is involuntary. I should think if it were up to him that he would have wanted to have a word with his viewers before leaving the show behind. It seems to me that Jeremy Carl’s assessment below is not unreasonable. This is a loss for Fox News.