Fox News on Monday confirmed that it “parted ways” with popular primetime host Tucker Carlson, offering no explanation why.
“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” said a news release from the news channel.
The release said that his departure from the network is effective immediately. Carlson’s last show was on Friday, April 21, and in its place, “Fox News Tonight,” will air starting with “an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named.”
On Twitter, Carlson did not make any reference to his departure from the channel.
Other details about Carlson’s departure were not made public. The Epoch Times has contacted a Fox News spokesperson for additional comment.
For years, Carlson’s show had been among the most popular in all of cable television, often generating more than 3 million viewers per episode. In March, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” drew the highest audience on cable television, averaging 3.251 million viewers per show, according to Nielsen data.
His ratings also spiked in early March when he aired never-before-seen footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, the Nielsen numbers show .
Carlson’s segments that were published to Fox News’s YouTube page would often generate millions of views each. For example, a recent post titled, “Tucker Carlson: The Biden admin is incentivizing bad behavior,” netted more than 600,000 views in two days.
Last week, another popular Fox News host, Dan Bongino, announced via his podcast that he, too, is leaving Fox News.
“The show ending last week was tough. It’s not some big conspiracy theory, I promise you. There’s no acrimony,” Bongino said last Thursday. “We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension. That’s really it.” He added: “I really enjoyed myself there. They were good for me for ten years.”
“It’s a sad day. They did give me the opportunity to do one last show, I don’t want you to think they showed me the door,” he continued to say. “That’s on me, not on them, but I thought it was best to go this way for now.”
In a statement to several news outlets after Bongino’s departure, Fox News said: “We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors.” The company did not explain why it was parting ways with Bongino, who was a former New York City Police Department official and U.S. Secret Service agent before entering the media business.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for developments.