Fox Corporation shares fell sharply following the announcement that popular conservative host Tucker Carlson is parting ways with the company.

Shares dropped by as much as 4.8 percent after the news broke, although they later recovered some of their losses.

Prior to the announcement, Fox shares had climbed 0.3 percent Monday morning.

Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson mutually agreed to part ways, according to a statement from the network. Carlson’s last episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” aired on Friday, April 21st.

In the interim, “Fox News Tonight” will air live at 8 PM/ET, featuring rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.

Carlson consistently topped the ratings in prime time, drawing a massive audience that often surpassed several of his competitors combined.

His show’s reruns frequently eclipsed the audience of original programming on other networks.

Brian Stelter, former CNN media reporter, called the move “earth-shattering” and highlighted the fact that Carlson was not given a farewell show in a series of tweets.

Stelter also pointed out that Fox News might have more difficulty negotiating with potential distributors without Carlson, as the popular host had become bigger than the network itself.

Fox’s push for higher carriage fees from distributors could be impacted by the loss of Carlson’s star power.

Carlson’s abrupt exit comes less than a week after Fox News settled a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for just under $800 million, narrowly avoiding a trial in which Carlson would have been expected to testify.

Additionally, syndicated talk radio host and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino announced his departure from Fox News just a week ago, citing a breakdown in contract negotiations.

Carlson has not yet publicly addressed his exit, and no reports have surfaced regarding his potential future plans.

The network now faces the challenge of finding a suitable replacement for one of its biggest prime time stars, as well as dealing with the potential financial ramifications of his departure.

As Fox News attempts to maintain its position as a leading conservative news outlet, the loss of Tucker Carlson could have significant implications for the network’s future success.