The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the ousting of Tucker Carlson from Fox News was not mutual.
They report this based on “people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly.”
A Fox News representative had no other details on Carlson’s exit. People familiar with the situation who were not authorized to comment publicly said the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.
Carlson’s exit is related to the discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, the producer fired by the network last month, the people said. Carlson’s senior executive producer Justin Wells has also been terminated, according to people familiar with the matter. A Fox News representative would not comment.
Murdoch is also said to be concerned over Carlson’s coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, in which the host has promoted the conspiracy theory that it was provoked by government agents.
Carlson has called Ray Epps — a Texas man who participated in the storming of the Capitol but did not enter the building — an FBI plant, without presenting any evidence.
Epps was interviewed Sunday on “60 Minutes” and said he has been subjected to death threats as a result of Carlson’s statements about him. The FBI told “60 Minutes” that Epps has never worked for the agency.
The decision is not related to the $787.5-million settlement Fox News agreed to pay to Dominion Voting Systems last week, according to a representative for Dominion.
However, some of the comments that Carlson had made about management in communications that turned up in the discovery process for the case may have also played a role in Carlson’s demise.
Based on this reporting it sounds like Chucky Schumer got to Murdoch:
If Carlson’s exit is also related to the lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, then who is she and what is the lawsuit about?
Here’s what the LA Times wrote at the end of March, nearly a month ago about the lawsuit:
Abby Grossberg was fired Friday by Fox News days after she filed her lawsuit in New York and Delaware that alleged discrimination based on gender, religion and disability.
Her suit claims she was bullied and subjected to sexist and antisemitic comments while working as head of booking for the Fox News program “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Grossberg had been moved to a role as head of booking on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” last year after working as senior booking producer for “Sunday Morning Futures,” the weekly show hosted by Maria Bartiromo. Bartiromo’s program figures prominently in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit against Fox News.
A Fox News representative said in a statement that Grossberg was terminated last week for disclosing privileged company information in her suit.
“Last week, our attorneys advised Ms. Grossberg that, while she was free to file whatever legal claims she wished, she was in possession of our privileged information and was not authorized to disclose it publicly,” the representative said. “We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination. Ms. Grossberg ignored these communications and chose to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect those portions containing Fox’s privileged information.”
The statement reiterated the company’s assertion that Grossberg’s claim is “riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.”
Grossberg said Fox News attorneys manipulated her deposition testimony to create the false narrative that “nothing falls through the cracks” at Fox News and “paints a false picture of her as an inept journalist who ignored relevant warnings from Dominion and disregarded the truth.”
They don’t go into much detail about the lawsuit as it relates to Carlson’s show, other than to say she was “bullied and subjected to sexist and antisemitic comments” while working on the show.