Tucker Carlson out at Fox News
April 24, 2023 8:54 AM Subscribe

Tucker Carlson out at Fox News [CNN] "Fox News said that Carlson’s last show was Friday, April 21."
posted by hippybear (302 comments total) 39 users marked this as a favorite

And apparently he didn't know it, because on Friday he said "See you Monday."

Money. It's always about the money.
posted by Melismata at 8:57 AM on April 24, 2023 [15 favorites]

I did nazi that coming.
posted by swift at 8:59 AM on April 24, 2023 [216 favorites]

right after the Dominion settlement. Complete coincidence, I'm sure.
posted by martin q blank at 8:59 AM on April 24, 2023 [21 favorites]

Can you imagine being such a terrible person that Fox News would decide you're a liability.
posted by mhoye at 9:00 AM on April 24, 2023 [113 favorites]

I have nothing to say about this that would not make me sound small-minded and mean.

But I take cream with my schadenfreude.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:02 AM on April 24, 2023 [53 favorites]

Like, I imagine it playing out like this:
Fox: We agree to settle.
Dominion: Cool. We'll take the original $1.6 billion. Or we'll take half of that, and you fire Carlson.
Fox: Buh-bye, Tucker.
posted by martin q blank at 9:03 AM on April 24, 2023 [56 favorites]

I haven't noticed any details about who said goodbye first and I'm intensely curious.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:03 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

In time for a campaign announcement?
posted by Selena777 at 9:05 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Night of the Short Knife.

Fox scrambling to the top of it's own effluent for a glimpse of the sun.

He will make much, much more money now that he is free of their "restraint"
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:07 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Clare Malone thinks Tucker needed Fox more than Fox needed Tucker.
posted by Etrigan at 9:08 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

he should have stayed with the bow ties
posted by pyramid termite at 9:08 AM on April 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

Oh man this is going to be a lot of fun.
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:09 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

may the fleas of a thousand camels infest his armpits - may his arms grow too short to scratch them
posted by lalochezia at 9:09 AM on April 24, 2023 [59 favorites]

May the wind at his back, ever be his own.

am I doing this right?
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:11 AM on April 24, 2023 [27 favorites]

It seems possible that he was seen as a liability more for his private remarks about hating Trump than the Dominion suit per se. Bartiromo is still there as far as I know.
posted by anhedonic at 9:12 AM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

Between this and watching towel apes realize they've lost all their money, Monday is really shaping up nicely for my schadenfreude quota.
posted by aramaic at 9:12 AM on April 24, 2023 [11 favorites]

We'll take the original $1.6 billion. Or we'll take half of that, and you fire Carlson.

Strikes me as overly optimistic about the final motivations of Dominion here.
posted by ryanshepard at 9:13 AM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

Strikes me as overly optimistic about the final motivations of Dominion here.

Indeed. If they were going to hold out for anything, they would have held out for on-air apologies. As it was on-air that their reputation was demolished. Them claiming the money was a clear indication of their priorities.
posted by hippybear at 9:15 AM on April 24, 2023 [9 favorites]

Now do Hannity.
posted by terrapin at 9:16 AM on April 24, 2023 [45 favorites]

Which is the appropriate finger to display in response. 👍 or 👎 or 🖕?
posted by njohnson23 at 9:17 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

I imagine a conversation at Fox something like:

You pay me to lie and now you're firing me for it?

We weren't paying you to get caught.
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:17 AM on April 24, 2023 [36 favorites]

What are they going to do with his stupid bug eating documentary now?
posted by Selena777 at 9:20 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

His party clown conscience caught up with him. The snack room crying episodes over a gallon of ice cream must've been hard to explain.
posted by Brian B. at 9:26 AM on April 24, 2023

The guy was rich before his Fox gig and got even richer during it, so best case scenario is he takes his money and lolls around on it for the rest of his pointless little life.

He is probably too desperate for attention to take that tack, though. He and Trump have that in common.
posted by emjaybee at 9:26 AM on April 24, 2023 [22 favorites]

That mercury retrograde’ll get you every time!
posted by sleepy psychonaut at 9:26 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Four days ago (Barron's): Fox settles with Dominion. The stock market was never worried.

Today (WSJ, not my favorite source, but that's who reports on shit like this): Tucker Carlson out, Fox's share price down 4.7% following the news.
posted by box at 9:27 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

And there goes Don Lemon...
posted by the sobsister at 9:27 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Wow. This is unexpected and utterly delightful news.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 9:27 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

What are the odds that Trump selects Tucker as his VP?
posted by SPrintF at 9:28 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

So who gets custody of the 44,000 hours of Jan 6th footage?
posted by Mchelly at 9:28 AM on April 24, 2023 [55 favorites]

So now will millions (or tens of) MAGAs - the vast 2nd tier just below the mouth breathers who already left cleaning Fox had gone RINO and listen to nothing but Bannon, MTG, etc., etc. - leave Fox screaming CANCEL CULTURE?
posted by thecincinnatikid at 9:29 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

He will make much, much more money now that he is free of their "restraint"

No, he won't. People said the same thing about Beck and O'Reilly. Having the easy-access platform matters.

What are the odds that Trump selects Tucker as his VP?

This is probably Tucker's best bet going forward, and it's a high-risk play.
posted by mightygodking at 9:30 AM on April 24, 2023 [32 favorites]

> Can you imagine being such a terrible person that Fox News would decide you're a liability.

Imagine being so terrible that you're the #1 cable news show and you're still a liability
posted by dis_integration at 9:31 AM on April 24, 2023 [24 favorites]

I call it Faux News.
posted by neuron at 9:32 AM on April 24, 2023

Still trying to decide whether to post a YT video of "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" or "Celebration."

Maybe we'll just say we hope this means he will stop, stop, stop hurting America.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:34 AM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

I will imagine him at home alone, unshaven and wearing a tank top undershirt, weeping into a Swanson TV dinner as he watches his replacement.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:34 AM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

What are the odds that Trump selects Tucker as his VP?

I'll call it now, zero.

Trump doesn't particularly want a successor, and he extremely doesn't want anyone who might upstage him.
posted by box at 9:36 AM on April 24, 2023 [52 favorites]

I haven't noticed any details about who said goodbye first and I'm intensely curious.

He doesn't get a goodbye show, so I'm guessing it wasn't on his terms.
posted by mazola at 9:36 AM on April 24, 2023 [13 favorites]

Between this and watching towel apes realize they've lost all their money,

I looked at that link and... wha? What the heck is happening.
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:36 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

What are the odds that Trump selects Tucker as his VP?

It makes sense as a kind of fantasy football calculation, but in practice I think Trump hates being upstaged and he would never pick someone with charisma who isn't totally subservient to him.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:37 AM on April 24, 2023 [13 favorites]

I doubt Fox actually decided he was a liability. More likely, they're just cutting costs now that they have to cut a $787 Million check, and they figure there's always a cheaper right wing shitbag.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:37 AM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

LOL
posted by mazola at 9:37 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

I was watching this video immediately before seeing the news and although I already held Beau in pretty high regard the timing on this made him seem fucking psychic.
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:40 AM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

If I had to guess, it's because he was badmouthing Trump and DT is looking more like the inevitable Republican nominee in 2024. The company needs to make sure they're on the good side of the campaign.
posted by The Notorious SRD at 9:42 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Josh Marshall's take is that it doesn't make sense it was about Dominion. Carlson was much better than others (Bartiromo, Pirro, Dobbs) about doing the "just asking questions schtick." There's a lot in the link about how easy it is for Fox to lie and will continue doing that.

He says speculation it's about Ray Epps and a refusal to retract/apologize is more plausible. Although I'd still take the field of "other reasons no one has thought of" over that.
posted by mark k at 9:45 AM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

All this, and ice cream is good for you too? What a Monday!
posted by mittens at 9:45 AM on April 24, 2023 [18 favorites]

I don't know what kind of deal he originally signed, but he has boasted that he had complete editorial control. I wonder if they asked him to sign a document stating that he does not.
posted by credulous at 9:46 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh god... this is not actually a good thing. It's like, "I'm trying to control an outbreak, and you're driving the monkey to the airport."

Martyrdom rarely detracts from a "charismatic" leader in regards to their followers. (And, yes, using charismatic in that last sentence made me throw up in my soul a little bit.)
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 9:46 AM on April 24, 2023 [11 favorites]

Tucker Carlson announced as Don Lemon's replacement at CNN in 3...2...1...
posted by Billiken at 9:47 AM on April 24, 2023 [12 favorites]

My sense of this is that between Dominion getting an expensive (but not, unfortunately, ruinous) settlement and DeSantis appearing to be hovering in the air past the cliff Wile E. Coyote style, Trump is tightening his grip on the 2024 nomination, so the opportunity to drop someone who cost Lachlan some actual money he just might notice and who also will be relentlessly badmouthed by the 2024 GOP nominee seems opportune.
posted by tclark at 9:47 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

He's been fired from CNN, MSNBC, and FOX now. Hard to see where he's going to go and bring any kind of audience with him.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:48 AM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

"Martyrdom" won't offset being removed from the highest and most visible platform in the right wing media landscape. Carlson has been pushed off the mountain; there is no need to turn good news into a prophecy of doom.
posted by Ipsifendus at 9:49 AM on April 24, 2023 [28 favorites]

there is no need to turn good news into a prophecy of doom.

"Can't you let me even enjoy the moment?"

"The moment's over."
posted by Melismata at 9:51 AM on April 24, 2023 [9 favorites]

Martyrdom rarely detracts from a "charismatic" leader in regards to their followers.

And how many of his watchers are actual followers of his, as opposed to Fox viewers tuning in at 8 as customary? As was pointed out earlier, it's likely that Tucker needed NewsCorp more than NewsCorp needed him.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:53 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

We are very, very close to being able to ignore Tucker most nights. I truly can't wait.

I hate him passionately.... I can't handle much more of this.
posted by mazola at 9:53 AM on April 24, 2023 [17 favorites]

This is good, but you have to burn the stump or two more heads just grow right back.
posted by biogeo at 9:54 AM on April 24, 2023 [51 favorites]

MetaFilter: driving the monkey to the airport
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:55 AM on April 24, 2023 [26 favorites]

I'm willing to chip in to have some people rush in there and salt the studio so nothing can grow back for decades.
posted by Trent Crimm, The Independent at 9:58 AM on April 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

Murdoch just ended his engagement with his fiancee, Ann Smith, a few weeks ago - the breaking point for Murdoch apparently was Smith, an Evangelical, saying she thought Carlson was a "messenger from God".

I can't help but wonder if Carlson was fired for simpler reasons than you'd think.
posted by Ktm1 at 9:59 AM on April 24, 2023 [81 favorites]

So would you say he's been...outfoxxed?
posted by foxfirefey at 10:01 AM on April 24, 2023 [19 favorites]

The Proud Boys trial is wrapping up soon...

Also, too, I can see Tuckums fitting in nicely at RT.
posted by Chuffy at 10:04 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

(•_•)
So would you say he's been...
( •_•)>⌐■-■
outfoxxed?
(⌐■_■)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:05 AM on April 24, 2023 [29 favorites]

I saw one tweet that framed this as “Putin has first defeat in spring counteroffensive.”
posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:05 AM on April 24, 2023 [63 favorites]

I'm assuming he'll post up at some place like OAN or launch his own thing. SOMEONE, be it investor or agency or both, will do the math and say "biggest audience in news is worth a shot." He'll get a big payday and he'll bring his audience, because the alt-right LOVES him.

Bad behind-the-scenes blood with Trump is meaningless. Everyone has badmouthed Trump in private and public. He loves getting someone who talked shit to bend the knee. He's a duplicitous asshole and expects to be in business with same, so long as they fall in line.
posted by es_de_bah at 10:08 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

Poor guy, fired and all he has to fall back on is a net worth north of $400m.

I wonder if Dominion could go after him personally, or if the anchors are covered under the settlement. It'd be so lovely to see him taken for a few hundred million too.

Fox anchors always remind me of Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night and Howard Campbell Jr. Campbell didn't believe anything he wrote and said, either. Ostensibly he was doing it for the right reasons, but in the end it didn't matter. "We are what we pretend to be, so we should be very careful what we pretend to be."

Whether Tucker meant it or not, he pretended to believe some really awful shit that hurt people. Too bad that losing his job isn't going to do anything positive and will barely inconvenience him. He could easily coast the rest of his life on his resources, several lives actually.
posted by jzb at 10:09 AM on April 24, 2023 [16 favorites]

And there goes Don Lemon...

I realize that correlation does not equal causation but I still have to consider what Joe Friday said:

"there is no such thing as coincidence in police work"
posted by philip-random at 10:11 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

oh, I know. Dominion's settlement was all about money. But if I were Dominion and had that kind of leverage, I'd like to think I would make them eat their own. Just for fun. The WaPo has some supposed insider take on the reason:

But it was Carlson’s comments about Fox management, as revealed in the Dominion case, that played a role in his departure from Fox, a person familiar with the company’s thinking told The Post.

“Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we’ve lost with our audience?” Carlson wrote to a colleague in a message a day after Fox, like other media outlets, called the election for Joe Biden. In another message, he referred to management with an expletive: “Those f-----s are destroying our credibility.” He later wrote: “A combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down is what’s happening.”

posted by martin q blank at 10:11 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

"It's not personal, Tucker. It's strictly business."
posted by TedW at 10:14 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

That Carlson is describing telling the truth as something that is losing credibility and trust with the audience is pretty much all one needs to know about Carlson as a "news" person.
posted by hippybear at 10:17 AM on April 24, 2023 [21 favorites]

It's like we have 2 versions of Succession: Season 4 running simultaneously

Maybe Kerry can replace Tucker as Fox anchor
posted by chavenet at 10:18 AM on April 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

As long as they were under attack they stuck together as part of the we-did-nothing-wrong strategy. Now that the suit is over and the danger is done they are turning on each other. This is the fear and the fate of every fascist.

Night of the Short Knife.

This made me snort out loud.
posted by Horkus at 10:18 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

What's the David Berman line? "Ceaseless feast of schadenfreude."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:20 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

"It's like we have 2 versions of Succession: Season 4 running simultaneously"

And reality is doing its damnedest to outpace the fictional cast as horrible people. Which takes some doing, but it's succeeding.
posted by jzb at 10:21 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Today proves that Tucker Carlson has evolved. He can now get fired from a major cable network without Jon Stewart having to humiliate him on air. - @BettyBowers
posted by hippybear at 10:21 AM on April 24, 2023 [55 favorites]

I can't find it now, but someone memorably said that Tucker Carlson's show face was like someone had given a math problem to a badger.

His independent wealth is a double-edged sword. He didn't need the income from Fox, it was an ego thing for him to be on top there. And while his rabid fans will follow him anywhere, he also received a lot of lift from Fox's cable distribution deals that put him everything. He'll never have that again. He'll probably start writing angry books and go on a speaking tour, hoping someone will protest him.
posted by fatbird at 10:25 AM on April 24, 2023 [12 favorites]

And reality is doing its damnedest to outpace the fictional cast as horrible people. Which takes some doing, but it's succeeding.

The Roy children might be horrible rich, but they're all also victims of abuse going back decades. It's easy to find them sympathetic at least part of the time because they're clearly all deeply damaged and trying to deal with that at a social tier where they can't just break family ties because that isn't done.

Tucker, on the other hand? Fuck that guy forever.
posted by mightygodking at 10:27 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

Someone on Twitter just posted a random screenshot of the "huh?" face he always makes and I burst out laughing because it was such a perfect "the leopards are coming for MY face?" face. He's been practicing his entire career for this moment.
posted by straight at 10:27 AM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

I hope he forever has to poop after taking a shower.
posted by slogger at 10:29 AM on April 24, 2023 [41 favorites]

Great start! Now let’s go ahead and pull Fox News from all the cable packages.
posted by ActionPopulated at 10:30 AM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

These right wing media personalities are easily replaced. Bill O’Reilly was replaced with Tucker Carlson and Fox’s rating barely changed. I predict that Fox will cast someone new in the role and keep the product basically unchanged. Tucker will probably end up with a podcast or perhaps working for Trump’s campaign. I doubt he gets another gig any time soon. The other right wing networks are facing the same 2020 Dominion lawsuit Fox just settled. I also don’t think CNN or MSNBC will want him. So his future is probably to do a podcast and see if he can bring any of his old audience. Maybe he’ll just take his money and go away .
posted by interogative mood at 10:30 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

METAFILTER: He'll probably start writing angry books and go on a speaking tour, hoping someone will protest him.
posted by philip-random at 10:30 AM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

A meme I've seen starting to spread (only behind my friendslocked Facebook peeps so I can't link yet) -

A picture of Olenna Tyrell from Game of Thrones, and with the face of the green M&M spokescandy photoshopped in over her face, with the caption "Tell Tucker, I want him to know it was me."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:30 AM on April 24, 2023 [53 favorites]

Tucker Carlson announced as Don Lemon's replacement at CNN in 3...2...1...

Or maybe it's all coming full circle where there's a new Crossfire:
Homophobic white nationalist neocon vs. gay black liberal
posted by thecincinnatikid at 10:35 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

Bill O’Reilly was replaced with Tucker Carlson and Fox’s rating barely changed. I predict that Fox will cast someone new in the role and keep the product basically unchanged.

Spoiler alert, it'll be Jesse Watters
posted by mightygodking at 10:36 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

I guess it remains to be seen whether this is a situation where the face-eating leopards he unleashed turned on him or if it's more like his face is saying, "Wait, my actions have consequences? ...for me?"
posted by straight at 10:37 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Either way, it is immensely satisfying to look at any picture of him making that face and imagine him hearing the news.
posted by straight at 10:40 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

Quick Rundown of the various theories as to why now other than just the lawsuit.

1. His targeting of Jan 6 protester Ray Epps and the harassment campaign of this private citizen. Fox’s lawyers saw the Sandy Hook case against Infowars

2. The Abby Grossberg lawsuit where she alleges that Fox and Tucker suborned perjury in her testimony for the Dominion case.
posted by interogative mood at 10:42 AM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

Or maybe it's all coming full circle where there's a new Crossfire

The new Crossfire is going to air on OANN, and it's just an hour of Tucker Carlson standing in front of a burning cross.
posted by box at 10:42 AM on April 24, 2023 [53 favorites]

Wait, is there any possibility this is related to the Musk interview? Please universe, give me that plot twist.
posted by straight at 10:43 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

So would you say he's been...outfoxxed?
posted by foxfirefey at 10:01 AM on April 24

Eponysterical? 👏

I won’t rule out the possibility that his career can rise from these ashes, but a lot of very credulous fans are very used to having his content spoon-fed to them by Old Media. If following him will now require actual effort on their part, it sure doesn’t bode well. These are the folks who brag about driving stick shift and writing in cursive, but can’t curate their own social media feeds to save their lives.
posted by armeowda at 10:46 AM on April 24, 2023 [12 favorites]

Still trying to decide whether to post a YT video of "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" or "Celebration."

There's also "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye", "Hit The Road Jack", and ZZ Top's "TV Dinners".

I wonder how drunk Jon Stewart is going to get tonight.
posted by mephron at 10:46 AM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

> Murdoch just ended his engagement with his fiancee, Ann Smith, a few weeks ago - the breaking point for Murdoch apparently was Smith, an Evangelical, saying she thought Carlson was a "messenger from God".

I've said this before, but I'm an atheist and I'm more in tune with Christ's actual teachings than the vast majority of these fucking people.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:50 AM on April 24, 2023 [50 favorites]

I imagine there's a surprising percentage of Tucker's audience that doesn't know what a podcast is. A lot of his schtick was reading Twitter posts aloud to people who don't know how to get their outrage from social media.
posted by straight at 10:50 AM on April 24, 2023 [20 favorites]

Ben Collins chose I’m Walking on Sunshine.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:50 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

It's hard to believe that Tucker's Crossfire humiliation actually pre-dated Youtube. I remember bittorrenting an over-the-air recording of it and burning it to DVD to pass around.

He was a pathetic loser then, and he's a pathetic loser now.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:51 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

he should have stayed with the bow ties

cravat next
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:51 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

He's done with Fox/Fox is done with him but where will Mr Tucker land? Any prognostications?
posted by robbyrobs at 10:55 AM on April 24, 2023

I'm certainly not sad to hear this news, and I hope that eventually even some tiny fraction of the consequences Carlson deserves catch up with him, but whatever happens to this on-the-air face of fascism we need to remember that behind him, enabling him every night, were an army of producers, writers, guest bookers, lawyers, ad salespeople and much more. Everyone, from the head of the network down to the hair and makeup people and techs who worked the show at some point decided that they were okay with devoting their lives to the spread of fascism, either due to ideology, inclination, or simply in exchange for a paycheck. Some large fraction of those people will simply shuffle around to other similar content.

The face in front of the camera may be changing but I see no reason to assume the machine behind the camera has reformed in any way. So enjoy the news and savor Carlson's humiliation for a moment or two, but we still have a giant-sized, largely-unchecked fascist propaganda network running amok in this country and that is not going away.
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:57 AM on April 24, 2023 [65 favorites]

He's done with Fox/Fox is done with him but where will Mr Tucker land? Any prognostications?

I'm guessing conservative academia: The Hoover Institute, Liberty University, whatever Dennis Prager is doing, etc. etc.
posted by JDC8 at 11:00 AM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

cravat next

"Attention all units, BOLO for new trends in neckwear."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:01 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

who will take his place? Is this possibly the cliche "jumping from the fire pan into the fire" apropos?
posted by robbyrobs at 11:02 AM on April 24, 2023

i wonder what piece of shit they're going to extrude into the 8pm slot for the audience they've trained
posted by i used to be someone else at 11:02 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Fox has lost control of the audience they've spent decades cultivating, and now they're addicted to hate, racism and paranoia. If they replace Tucker with his methadone equivalent the audience won't get the same high, which creates an opening for Newsmax or whoever to be the new dealer with the good stuff.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:03 AM on April 24, 2023 [14 favorites]

Last year someone who wasn't too nice (IRL) got fired on my birthday. This year, two birthday firings of deserving people!
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:07 AM on April 24, 2023 [22 favorites]

He's done with Fox/Fox is done with him but where will Mr Tucker land? Any prognostications?

OANN or GTFO
posted by pxe2000 at 11:08 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

If it necessitates changing a cable channel on an waiting rooms dusty old cable box that could be a lot of the audience gone.
posted by Artw at 11:09 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

i wonder what piece of shit they're going to extrude into the 8pm slot for the audience they've trained

My money's on Greenwald.
posted by octothorpe at 11:10 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

"Who will take his place?"

Steven Crowder's free.
posted by Selena777 at 11:10 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Couldn't happen to a nicer.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 11:10 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

i used to be someone else: i wonder what piece of shit they're going to extrude into the 8pm slot for the audience they've trained

Kevin Sorbo and Scott Baio for the Hercules/Chachi Power Hour
posted by dr_dank at 11:14 AM on April 24, 2023 [30 favorites]

It's going to be hilarious if Jimmy Dore ends up in the 8pm slot on Fox.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:15 AM on April 24, 2023

i wonder what piece of shit they're going to extrude into the 8pm slot for the audience they've trained

Yog-Shoggoth?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:15 AM on April 24, 2023 [11 favorites]

Still trying to decide whether to post a YT video of "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" or "Celebration."

Personally, I went with "nelson haha 10 hours." I didn't feel he was quite important enough to merit a "sweet clyde laugh derisively at him."
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:16 AM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

i wonder what piece of shit they're going to extrude into the 8pm slot for the audience they've trained

"Vegas odds on Tucker Carlson’s replacement:
10/1 - Alex Jones
20/1 - A Paul brother doesn’t matter which
25/1 - Michael Richards
30/1 - Toppled confederate statue
35/1 - Andrew Cuomo
40/1 - Rotating anti-woke product line (razor, pillow, etc)"

- Tommy Vietor
posted by The Bellman at 11:16 AM on April 24, 2023 [15 favorites]

Has Trump gone on Truth to shit on Tucker's grave yet, or will he go the "FOX HAS GONE WOKE" route?
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:17 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think people are guessing replacements based on people being equally repellent/famous, when the real test will be Fox trying to find someone as good at ginning up and directing outrage as Carlson, and O'Reilly before him. That's what the slot is for. It's not just for a famous conservative reacting to the news. It's for a manipulative fascist conservative to direct the news.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:17 AM on April 24, 2023 [11 favorites]

Yog-Shoggoth?

This is a Shoggoth.

This is Yog-Sothoth.

This is Alex Jones.

The more you know!
posted by The Bellman at 11:20 AM on April 24, 2023 [15 favorites]

And RT reaches out on Twitter.

(And of course they have a blue checkmark.)
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:21 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Time to reclaim bow ties from the fash.
posted by RakDaddy at 11:27 AM on April 24, 2023 [12 favorites]

“And RT reaches out on Twitter.

(And of course they have a blue checkmark.)”

I can totally believe that Carlson doesn't actually like Trump, and I can also totally believe that he does actually like Putin and believes that Putinism represents the world's best hope. I'm surprised he hasn't converted from Episcopalian to Russian Orthodox.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 11:34 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Me sowing: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!!
Me reaping: Well this fucking sucks. What the fuck.

posted by mark k at 11:39 AM on April 24, 2023 [20 favorites]

Fox Corp stock dropped close to 5% - $700M - on the news.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 11:39 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

I figure the lawyers spent all last week trying to convince him to accept some sort of muzzling, and he thought they didn't have the guts to fire him. And there's no way he keeps his trap shut. There isn't enough money to matter to him more than his ego.

This could be it, or it could be that he by far overestimated the ransom he could extract from Fox in exchange for avoiding a blow-up with his fanbase. Considering all the old stories about how completely he dropped his ideologue act in the CNN green rooms, and other talk shows of the Crossfire era.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:47 AM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Fox Corp stock dropped close to 5% - $700M - on the news.

45 will definitely bring this up in his inevitable Righteous Truth (or whatever they call tweets on his pet platform). I was initially going to preface the sentence with, “If true,” but then I remembered whom I was writing about.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:51 AM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I can totally believe that Carlson doesn't actually like Trump, and I can also totally believe that he does actually like Putin

Cravat and RT next.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:52 AM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

"Who must go?"
posted by Rhaomi at 11:55 AM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

Looks like Carson's executive producer is also out.
posted by hippybear at 12:00 PM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Oddly enough CNN dropped Don Lemon shortly after Carlson, and both reportedly retained the same lawyer.

I see this has been posted - thought I'd checked
posted by jozifd at 12:00 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'm looking forward to how Ben Garrison handles this.
posted by brundlefly at 12:02 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

for a terrifying hour tonight millions of Americans will have to guess on their own whom to hate - @petridishes (Alexandra Petri)
posted by hippybear at 12:03 PM on April 24, 2023 [58 favorites]

"Fox Replaces Tucker Carlson with Lying Chatbot
Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch said that the former host had been “rendered obsolete by swift advances in lying technology.”"
-Borowitz
posted by doctornemo at 12:06 PM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

Oddly enough CNN dropped Don Lemon shortly after Carlson, and both reportedly retained the same lawyer.

Clearly the truth is they are the same person and Fox & CNN both found out but don't want to look stupid by admitting they got fooled, so they agreed to do a joint firing of "both" guys today.
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:07 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Unsurprisingly, RT has expressed interest in bringing Tucker on board.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:08 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

~~Pop~~ The Right will eat itself.
posted by tommasz at 12:14 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

OMG, RT does usually have that random American talking head, and Ed Schultz and Larry King have both passed.
posted by Selena777 at 12:19 PM on April 24, 2023

I think I've said this here before, but with the vicious portraits of vicious people I have done, Tucker was one of the few that stumped me.

It was literally because I could not find anything to draw when I attempted one of my renderings of him. Very odd. Literally, at least for drawing's sake, there is no there, there.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:24 PM on April 24, 2023 [9 favorites]

My grandfather who owned a small manufacturing business used to say, "When someone thinks they are too important to be fired, fire them." Seems like that may have happened here.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:29 PM on April 24, 2023 [14 favorites]

OMG, RT does usually have that random American talking head, and Ed Schultz and Larry King have both passed.

It's a lot less useful for the Kremlin to have Tucker doing vatnik fodder for Putin on a channel explicitly owned by them. Having said that, I guess they could use him as an attempt to mainstream RT. Just recreate the entire program.
posted by jaduncan at 12:33 PM on April 24, 2023

I'm pretty sure Lukas Matsson had him on the kill list. It was just a matter of time.
posted by Ber at 12:43 PM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Okay - an acquaintance is claiming that it was actually a firing, brought about when someone discovered some tweets or texts in which Tucker was critical of Rupert Murdoch. Has anyone else heard this who can verify?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:46 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

So it looks like the Grossberg discrimination lawsuit is indeed the main reason he was fired, with concerns over Carlson's coverage of the January 6 insurrection (and his treatment of Ray Epps) as a secondary cause. Carlson's EP Justin Wells was also sacked. The messages in which Carlson criticized management probably didn't help him any either.

If this had been directly related to Dominion, I think there'd be several other talking heads and producers at Fox who'd be on the chopping block ahead of Carlson.
posted by theory at 12:50 PM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

Who doesn't think it was a firing? Most of the insider intel points to the harassment lawsuit and/or that he criticized execs in texts. I'd also guess he thought he was untouchable, which seems pretty dumb after Ailes and O'Reilly, and Fox knows he's replaceable.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:54 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

I wonder if he was allowed into the building and given a cardboard box into which to put his personal belongings from his office, with a time limit and a security guard standing close to escort him out.
posted by hippybear at 12:54 PM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

My grandfather who owned a small manufacturing business used to say, "When someone thinks they are too important to be fired, fire them."

A socialist would say that this is an important principle to turn around and apply to the business owner. Too bad our system makes that so difficult.
posted by clawsoon at 12:55 PM on April 24, 2023 [43 favorites]

with concerns over Carlson's coverage of the January 6 insurrection (and his treatment of Ray Epps) as a secondary reason.

Interesting, then, that 60 Minutes ran a profile of Epps just last night, debunking the idea that Epps was an FBI plant.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:57 PM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

He's probably going to run for Congress.
posted by fgdmorr at 1:00 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Fox could just use a V-Tuber avatar reciting GPT-4 content through a speech synthesizer. Why pay anyone the money, why take the risk of another dumbass speaking off script. Have a team of six people behind the set writing and counter-checking each other so nothing bad for Fox goes out.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:01 PM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Who's the tiny-brain moron now?
posted by flabdablet at 1:01 PM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'd also guess he thought he was untouchable, which seems pretty dumb after Ailes and O'Reilly, and Fox knows he's replaceable.

It's not as if "pretty dumb" wouldn't be completely in character.

I've discovered an extra element of this whole saga that I can enjoy mostly worry- and guilt-free. I realize that in short order someone else is going to step into the vacated position of America's most prominent fascist mouthpiece and it will be back to business as usual.

But until the dust settles, right at this moment there are dozens, or possibly hundreds, of absolute garbage people who are totally convinced that they are the natural heir to Tucker's Throne of Hate.

Necessarily all but one of them are going to suffer crushing disappointment soon. I don't know about you, but I take some comfort from that..
posted by Nerd of the North at 1:03 PM on April 24, 2023 [18 favorites]

There are no fewer than three (and probably more) videos in my YouTube recommendations right now titled "All Tuckered Out" about this.

Like, really! Do a bit of research and find a new title if someone else has it already!
posted by hippybear at 1:14 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh, it seems that Jeff Schell, CEO of NBC Universal, was fired yesterday.

A lot of housecleaning going on everywhere.
posted by hippybear at 1:17 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

I can't get too optimistic and also hate to direct any traffic whatsoever to any Fox holding, but I did enjoy the terseness and choice of photo in foxnews.com's article on the subject.
posted by trig at 1:20 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

The great replacement theory has come to FOX!
posted by zerobyproxy at 1:21 PM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

Katie Couric talks to Brian Steinberg (Variety Senior TV Editor) about all this. This is a YouTube live link, so if you click soon after this commend is made, it will be In Progress and you'll have to rewind. But the link will work normally after it is streamed.
posted by hippybear at 1:22 PM on April 24, 2023

I imagine there's a surprising percentage of Tucker's audience that doesn't know what a podcast is. A lot of his schtick was reading Twitter posts aloud to people who don't know how to get their outrage from social media.

I think they don't even know how to change channels.
posted by srboisvert at 1:27 PM on April 24, 2023 [10 favorites]

There has been several comments mentioning him being escorted out etc. Carlson doesn’t work out of Fox studios as he has had his own studio for quite some time. I recently read a long profile of him (NYT?) that talked about his private studio and why he was able to continue working for Fox unvaccinated. I’m sure this was all done through lawyers.
posted by misterpatrick at 1:28 PM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

So is he running for president- or counterintuitively, more scary- for vice president?
posted by Apocryphon at 1:36 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

If he is, he'll have the bowtie demographic locked in.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:38 PM on April 24, 2023

No way Carlson could run for office. Look at how badly he handles this confrontation in Montana, of all places
posted by glaucon at 1:40 PM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Wrinkled Rupert's fired fash
Off the telly in a flash
Hear the saddened snowflakes' cries
"From whom will we now get our lies?"

But somewhere waiting in the wings
Among malignant thoughtless things
Seethes the next who will spew hate
For Rupert every night at eight
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:43 PM on April 24, 2023 [34 favorites]

Total length of that Katie Couric conversation is 30 minutes.
posted by hippybear at 1:49 PM on April 24, 2023

Upon announcing the Carlson firing on their show, "The View" co-host Ana Navarro led the cast and studio audience in singing this great, great classic in jubilation. This is the first time I have ever enjoyed watching "The View."
posted by Lynsey at 1:50 PM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

🏃🤺
posted by clavdivs at 1:52 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

There are no fewer than three (and probably more) videos in my YouTube recommendations right now titled "All Tuckered Out" about this.

I'm pleased to see a few articles about both firings with the headline "ANCHORS AWAY!"
posted by straight at 1:53 PM on April 24, 2023 [21 favorites]

It occurs to me, people talking about Tucker's next act... like, is he in any way like those other right wing hosts? Does he have a line of nutritional supplements or freeze-dried food or mattresses or whatever that he's been shelling? Alex Jones makes basically all of his income from his other things, stuff he sells. I don't think Tucker ever got into any of that.

If you have been fired from your third network job and you haven't built up any side hustles... I'm glad he's rich, because maybe he has no more income.
posted by hippybear at 2:37 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I think they don't even know how to change channels.

I found myself wondering if they can still tune the AM radio dials in their trucks, but it occurs to me a lot of them don’t have a daily commute anymore.

Plus, on the radio, no one can see you making that “toddler who’s been asked to wipe his own butt for the first time” face.
posted by armeowda at 2:37 PM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

jc_denton_what_a_shame.wav
posted by dismas at 2:38 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I don't think Tucker ever got into any of that.

That's because his family did it for him - as heir to the Swanson fortune, he's the TV dinner nepo son.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:44 PM on April 24, 2023

as heir to the Swanson fortune, he's the TV dinner nepo son.

Snopes would like to explain things to you.
posted by hippybear at 2:48 PM on April 24, 2023 [20 favorites]

He'll have a radio show that's also a livestream with expanded online content. By now he's seen how much grifting there is to be done that way, and with much less oversight.

I bet he hasn't enjoyed being surpassed by Ben Shapiro with the Secret Fraternity of Balls & Shaft market segment.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:49 PM on April 24, 2023

Nobody seems to be talking about the upcoming Smartmatic settlement. Disavowing Carlson could save Fox tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:52 PM on April 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

All those subsequent lawsuits from various companies would probably keep Carlson from leaping to Newsmax or OANN or other networks that are being sued for the same lies. Including pending lawsuits from Dominion against those companies.
posted by hippybear at 2:55 PM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Oddly enough CNN dropped Don Lemon shortly after Carlson, and

fair & balanced?
posted by philip-random at 2:55 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's a little late in the season and a bit warm now, but I'd like to imagine the reaction after leaving the building was something like this.
posted by gimonca at 3:19 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

>Oddly enough CNN dropped Don Lemon shortly after Carlson, and

fair & balanced?

Mutual disarmament pact.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:19 PM on April 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

Strategic Anchor Limitation Treaty (2023)
posted by hippybear at 3:26 PM on April 24, 2023 [22 favorites]

I'm sure they'll find someone just as awful to fill his position, but at least for now there's the joy in knowing he's fired.
posted by sotonohito at 3:55 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Fox fires Carlson; CNN fires Don Lemon...it feels a little like a prisoner exchange, doesn't it?
posted by Naberius at 4:01 PM on April 24, 2023 [7 favorites]

There are no fewer than three (and probably more) videos in my YouTube recommendations right now titled "All Tuckered Out" about this

Tuck Neverlasting
Tucker: The Man's Monotremed
Huckster Tucker's Shucking Shocker
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:04 PM on April 24, 2023 [13 favorites]

Shit, canned.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 4:31 PM on April 24, 2023 [31 favorites]

If it's Tucker, it's got to be booed.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:33 PM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

New expression - Get tucked. To be ignominiously fired from your job. Example, “Hey, Carlson! Get tucked!”
posted by njohnson23 at 4:34 PM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

I had the misfortune of catching a little Newsmax about an hour ago, and they were talking about Tucker's firing. They were totally slamming Fox; the graphic had "(They/Them)" under the Fox News logo, and the chyron read "Murdoch Bends the Knee to Radical Left." Then the graphic changed to the logos for CNN, MSNBC, a couple others, with the text "THEY ARE WINNING" while the chyron changed to "This is Cancel Culture in Action"
posted by Saxon Kane at 4:45 PM on April 24, 2023 [16 favorites]

I didn't think I'd see 1000 tonnes of methane suddenly escape twice this week.
posted by adept256 at 4:49 PM on April 24, 2023 [9 favorites]

I had to watch John Oliver’s masterful send-up of the Tuck again (a couple times) today.
posted by bendy at 5:11 PM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

I hope that Rupert Murdoch knows that if Tucker's time slot tonight doesn't cold-open with Don Lemon facing the camera, saying "Welcome to the New Fox. We'll be right back" and fading out, he's missing a giant opportunity for comedy.
posted by delfin at 5:23 PM on April 24, 2023 [11 favorites]

New expression - Get tucked. To be ignominiously fired from your job. Example, “Hey, Carlson! Get tucked!”

No need to go to such lengths. Guy's all tuckered out as it is.

Somewhat eponysterical:

tucker (n.)
"piece of lace worn around the neck," 1680s, agent noun from tuck (v.). In Middle English tukere was "one who dresses or finishes cloth," hence the surname.

tuck (v.)
late 14c., "to pull or gather up," earlier "to pluck, stretch" (implied in tucker "one who finishes clothes by stretching them on tenters, late 13c. as a surname), probably from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch tucken "pull up, draw up, tug" (cognate with Old English tucian "mistreat, torment," and related to Old English togian "to pull," German zucken; see tow (v.)).

posted by trig at 5:25 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

NYT: "The announcement on Monday that Fox News was parting ways with its top-rated prime-time host, Tucker Carlson, stunned people in Donald J. Trump’s orbit. The former president himself was surprised by the news, according to a person with direct knowledge, and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a close friend of Mr. Carlson’s, described the network’s decision as “mind-blowing.”

“I think it changes things permanently,” Donald Trump Jr. said on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” adding that Mr. Carlson was “an actual thought leader in conservatism” and a “once-in-a-generation type talent.”

Excuse me while I puke.
posted by mareli at 5:26 PM on April 24, 2023 [13 favorites]

Fox is one step closer to hooking up an AI to a vtuber model, finally realizing their ideal propaganda avatar for the next generation.
posted by otsebyatina at 5:33 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Tuck around and find out.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 5:36 PM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Fox is one step closer to hooking up an AI to a vtuber model, finally realizing their ideal propaganda avatar for the next generation.

M-M-Max Headcase?
posted by delfin at 5:37 PM on April 24, 2023 [20 favorites]

Here's a clip from MSNBC of Tucker telling on himself.

Tucker: Imagine forcing yourself to tell lies all day about everything in ways that were so transparent and so outlandish that there is no way people listening to you could possibly believe anything you said. Then imagine doing that again and again and again every day of your professional life for your entire life.

Could you do that?

It's all projection. If I had one piece of advice for Tucker, go and say all of the above into the honesty mirror before you consider your next career move.
posted by adept256 at 6:23 PM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

Maybe he should retire and open a fly fishing shop.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:25 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Carlson and Lemon really into a bar.

Bartender says "we don't serve news hosts here. "

So Carlson and Lemon say "in that case, we got good news..."
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:49 PM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

Adios, mother-Tucker!
posted by jonp72 at 6:59 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

why he was able to continue working for Fox unvaccinated

Riiight. I don’t care what he tells his audience, you’ll never convince me he didn’t get a jab as soon as he could push an octogenarian first responder out of line for one.
posted by staggernation at 7:06 PM on April 24, 2023 [52 favorites]

Drag queen tuck party in his honor.

But seriously, dude did incalculable damage
posted by Jacen at 7:30 PM on April 24, 2023 [5 favorites]

Oddly enough CNN dropped Don Lemon shortly after Carlson, and

fair & balanced?

Mutual disarmament pact.

Nah, just trash pickup day.
posted by praemunire at 7:32 PM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]

Still in shock.

I wanna be happy but these Sith and their dark plans....
posted by riverlife at 7:42 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

True. The Master still lives, but the Apprentice has been vanquished. Another will rise to take their place.
posted by hippybear at 7:49 PM on April 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’m sorry, but the infamous Jon Stewart - Tucker Carlson Crossfire clip hasn’t been shared yet and it’s worth a watch today.
posted by glaucon at 8:12 PM on April 24, 2023 [13 favorites]

This fucker is setting sail as a multi-hundred-millionaire. He has carved this obscene hoard of ill-gotten gains out of the soul of the nation. I hope he chokes on it.

And no, it doesn’t make me happy to be this spiteful toward certain people. But I’ve come to understand that, sometimes in this world, our spite is the only negative consequences some of these evil bastards will ever encounter in this world, so go ahead and be spiteful and don’t be too hard on yourself.
posted by darkstar at 9:22 PM on April 24, 2023 [28 favorites]

He has carved this obscene hoard of ill-gotten gains out of the soul of the nation.

Not that he didn't have a lucrative Fox contract, but in the end his real money comes from Mommy and Daddy.
posted by praemunire at 9:25 PM on April 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

Point taken. And doubly irksome for all that.
posted by darkstar at 9:26 PM on April 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Goodbye doesn't mean forever.
Goodbye doesn't mean we'll never be togther again.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:46 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

There once was a poisonous wee fucker,
Who went by the first name of Tucker,
When sacked from his job,
Of provoking the mob,
He said, "Guess I ran out of luck-ah".
posted by Paul Slade at 11:55 PM on April 24, 2023 [12 favorites]

RT (they have a blue check) just offered shitstain a job over twitter.
posted by adept256 at 12:28 AM on April 25, 2023

I'm watching LegalEagle because I can't get enough of this, and I suddenly realized that Fox viewers actively want lies. It's not that they are being suckered (tuckered?) but that they turn to Fox and other right wing channels for the lies they know are lies, that they want to hear.

I guess this has always been the way the right works, as expressed in the infamous "reality based community" quote. But it is frustrating, specially in an age where we are killing ourselves and a lot of other species on earth.
posted by mumimor at 1:13 AM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

Fishstick dipstick gets kicked from hate schtick
posted by eustatic at 2:27 AM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

If you want to know Tucker's ultimate fate, think about Megyn Kelly. Which will make you realize you haven't thought about Megyn Kelly in a very long time.

Kelly never had the fash fully on board. I wonder if, absent external advantages, Carlson would be more of a Beck, slowly fading away whilst moving more and more to the periphery. Unlike Beck and Kelly however, Carlson really doesn't need the money. If he wants to he could very easily end up being governor of somewhere scarlet red for the ego points.
posted by jaduncan at 2:34 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

Fox rocked by docket stuck fork in socket, feckless fucker Tucker sucker punched to save a few bucks by stopped clock Murdoch, world puckers and says "Aw, fuck it" to drop in bucket.
posted by loquacious at 2:41 AM on April 25, 2023 [21 favorites]

If Fox chooses Tulsi Gabbard we'll know they've gone from backing Putin indirectly through Trump and the Republicans to mainlining the pure stuff, because when Gabbard switched from Democrat to Republican last October, she called Democratic leadership "an 'elitist Cabal of warmongers'" which is rhetoric that is truly odd for an American politician, but would be home cooking in the Russian Duma.
posted by jamjam at 3:43 AM on April 25, 2023 [11 favorites]

Seth Meyers looks pleased
posted by flabdablet at 4:08 AM on April 25, 2023 [5 favorites]

Fox viewers actively want lies. It's not that they are being suckered (tuckered?) but that they turn to Fox and other right wing channels for the lies they know are lies, that they want to hear.

Amanda Marcotte has been writing about this quite a bit lately at Salon.com.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:23 AM on April 25, 2023 [9 favorites]

Fox will find an equally ignorant talking head to feed the fears of the 3 million people who watch each night.
posted by DJZouke at 5:01 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

3 million is like 1% of America. I know there are confounding factors, ... actually there is no way to minimize this. If 1% of the pool is piss, the pool is unswimmable.

I saw a piece of graffiti that said 'they want you to fight the culture war so you won't fight the class war'. Carlson is a nepo baby. He wants you to worry about ... anything but him. The rich white guy. The migrant, the trans person, the green m+m. The easy targets. Anything but the rich fucker. Fuck off.

Slimy turd. Replacement theory. Trans are paedophiles. Climate change hoax. Election hoax. Anything that means respect is woke.

Try this: whenever they say woke, replace that word with respect.

Florida is the place respect goes to die
We will never give in to the respect agenda
The stop respect act

You see how this is working? They have claimed a word which means respect, that they can oppose. If you said it was racism or sexism, it wouldn't work. You can be anti-woke, and hate whoever you want.

bleh.
posted by adept256 at 5:29 AM on April 25, 2023 [28 favorites]

Compendium of the things Carlson wasn't saying in public

It's clear he hated Trump, but I'm not sure about why.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:58 AM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

Has Tucker Carlson made any statements at all since he’s been fired? Seems out of character for him.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 6:39 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

He had to drink the Shut Up Juice, hopefully.
posted by tiny frying pan at 7:00 AM on April 25, 2023

If 1% of the pool is piss, the pool is unswimmable.

not to derail but a lifetime ago I lifeguarded and maintained pool chemistry at the public pool and your analogy needs to be recalibrated
posted by elkevelvet at 7:02 AM on April 25, 2023 [49 favorites]

It's clear he hated Trump, but I'm not sure about why.

A little pocket psychoanalysis on my part?

Tucker loved his paycheck, but deep down, he hated what his job had become.

Not the reflexive white-grievance conservative politics part of it -- he'd internalized that a long, long time ago, and it's a part of him. Rather, Tucker's always considered himself part of the intelligentsia, a child of privilege, a thoughtful and respected proponent of important ideas. Which is a big reason why Stewart's dismantling of him and Crossfire rankled him so much; here was an outsider, a comedian, coming in and shredding his credibility on his own turf.

So Tucker then bounced around for a while before settling in at Fox, where he quickly became the voice of the self-styled deplorables. His own network described his show in court as exaggeration, non-literal commentary, and worthy of skepticism. His reputation for bowtied, serious conservatism devolved into ranting, conspiracy-mongering and gurning. The more he debased his former self, the higher the ratings went. He became the one person that the QAnon types of the world would trust on 'mainstream' media -- and, honestly, if those people are fervently on your side, isn't that sufficient cause to worry about what your side actually is?

But once you reach those kinds of extremes, there really isn't any kind of walking-it-back possible. The lowest common denominator is now where you live, as those above that swamp no longer take you seriously.

And Tucker can stare at Trump and know that, yes, this is the person most responsible (besides himself) for his repositioning as the voice of the shitheads. This is the person who didn't begin the coarsening of the conservative base by a long shot, who didn't initiate propagandizing the masses rather than winning them via rational argument, but who mastered it and rode its tidal wave straight into the Oval Office. This guy is the ringmaster of America's carnival of irrational nonsense, the one in which Tucker's the Head Clown. This guy is a buffoon whose ring must be kissed and whose bleatings must be taken seriously -- in public, at least.

He's stuck playing a character for the rest of his life, the Larry the Cable Guy of racism and white prejudice, and Trump is a big reason why.
posted by delfin at 7:08 AM on April 25, 2023 [42 favorites]

Glen Beck's on radio now, and his audience is over 3 times what Tucker Carlson's was. Just because he's not on TV doesn't mean that he went away. (Also, when people just say Beck, I think of the musician, which is really confusing.)
posted by Spike Glee at 7:09 AM on April 25, 2023 [7 favorites]

Or maybe it's all coming full circle where there's a new Crossfire

On April 24, Tucker Carlson was asked to remove himself from his place of business; that request came from his boss. Deep down, he knew he was right, but he also knew that some day he would return. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his frenemy, Don Lemon. Several hours earlier, Lemon's boss had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two disgraced men share a TV show without driving each other crazy?
posted by kirkaracha at 7:14 AM on April 25, 2023 [28 favorites]

*don lemon puts his feet up on the coffee table and cracks open a bud light without a beer coaster*

*tucker carlson suffers an allergy attack and almost swallows his bow tie *
posted by pyramid termite at 7:23 AM on April 25, 2023 [5 favorites]

Alternatively, Carlson has a certain amount of class and mental focus, and Trump has neither.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 7:37 AM on April 25, 2023

There's one thing left that Tucker can do, and that's roast the living shit out of Fox, and I see no reason for him not to: being fired suddenly and without explanation, including your email locked while you're distracted by being fired... it's very doubtful there's a separation agreement there that includes a big payout in exchange for playing nice (if such things even exist anymore since the NLRB's ruling that non-disparagement clauses are void). And being independently wealthy, and feeling spiteful, there's no reason he couldn't wave off an 8 or 9 figure shut-up fee.

As Delfin explores, this is much more about ego for Carlson than money. And now, face eaten by the leopard while the survivors shove him off the raft, the one thing he knows he can do is pick up the phone and get interviewed about it all. He probably thinks there's no way he'll go to Newsmax, but he could go on Newsmax and tell that core, core demographic just how shitty Fox has become.

So I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be treated to a dead cat bounce that will be glorious.
posted by fatbird at 8:04 AM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

Glen Beck's on radio now, and his audience is over 3 times what Tucker Carlson's was. Just because he's not on TV doesn't mean that he went away.

The audience size isn't the crucial bit, it's the ability to drive a political agenda. Republican leaders care about Fox.
posted by jaduncan at 8:09 AM on April 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

I'm going to bet that FOX cut a generous severance package with Carlson that forbids him from talking about FOX.
posted by sotonohito at 8:12 AM on April 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

It's clear he hated Trump, but I'm not sure about why.

There seems to be a lot of contempt for Trump with the old money set, for being clumsy and crass.

It is still a bit weird, though, when they're getting everything they've ever wanted, and then they go and complain about the box it came in.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:15 AM on April 25, 2023 [17 favorites]

The old guard had every intention of using emotional appeals, propaganda and outright lies to the rabble to get and maintain power, and they did so.

But they had no intentions of allowing the rabble to push THEM out of power and to claim it for themselves.
posted by delfin at 8:29 AM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

Also, when people just say Beck, I think of the musician, which is really confusing.

There is possibly a joke to be made about overlapping Venn circles and “Loser” here.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:33 AM on April 25, 2023 [11 favorites]

There seems to be a lot of contempt for Trump with the old money set, for being clumsy and crass.

see also Adolph H and Germany's old money set circa 1925-1932. It does seem to be one of history's recurring themes: corrupt old power underestimating corrupt new power
posted by philip-random at 8:45 AM on April 25, 2023 [7 favorites]

*don lemon puts his feet up on the coffee table and cracks open a bud light without a beer coaster*

*tucker carlson suffers an allergy attack and almost swallows his bow tie *

Breaking!

Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon to star in remake of The Odd Couple.
posted by philip-random at 8:47 AM on April 25, 2023

The main problem with utilizing useful idiots is that when they're no longer useful and are becoming dangerous instead, they're still idiots and they're still right there next to you.
posted by delfin at 8:48 AM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

This is all going to stop being fun in a hurry if this shitbag announces he's running for the 2024 GOP nomination.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:56 AM on April 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

If it's Carlson vs. Trump for the nomination, it might split the vote.

We have no reason to think Carlson is tough enough to stand up to Trump, though.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 9:52 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

It all began when the religious right was slowly adopted by the wealthy, which was easy because evangelical lore behaves like a cargo cult where worshiping God and idolizing money are consistent with vending machine prosperity. But it failed them, predictably. Then comes Trump, who understands their anger and racism, and knows they will believe anything he says because they are desperate. He has no problem telling them what they want to hear. So they follow him as their charismatic authority, but they have no idea what they want, they just know the heavenly reward requires winners and losers. The caution flag here is that these people hate America, as confederates funded by Putin. It would be wise to be patriotic against the traitors, to go with the laws, unless there is another form of unity nobody has thought of yet.
posted by Brian B. at 9:54 AM on April 25, 2023 [8 favorites]

This is all going to stop being fun in a hurry if this shitbag announces he's running for the 2024 GOP nomination.

I do see him running but not just yet. I'm guessing 2028 and beyond. But maybe he'll choke on a swanson dinner (....in a video game) and save us all the trouble.
posted by Fizz at 9:54 AM on April 25, 2023

Fox, the Right, and the Extreme Right don't want their vitriol and lies delivered by a woman. I'd be surprised if Gabbard was selected. I expect to see her shilling supplements and NFTs.
posted by theora55 at 9:55 AM on April 25, 2023 [5 favorites]

However, electing someone who isn't the stereotypical supporter can add support that even those people agree, as long as they're saying the right hateful things. Also see Enrique Tarrio, the non-white leader of the Proud Boys.
posted by meowzilla at 10:59 AM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

Glen Beck's on radio now, and his audience is over 3 times what Tucker Carlson's was. Just because he's not on TV doesn't mean that he went away.

Glenn Beck started a cable channel called The Blaze that failed, so he's fallen back to radio. These guys' audience and business sense is far below Fox News - they need Fox way more than Fox needs them.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:11 AM on April 25, 2023 [5 favorites]

>Glen Beck's on radio now, and his audience is over 3 times what Tucker Carlson's was. Just because he's not on TV doesn't mean that he went away.

>>The audience size isn't the crucial bit, it's the ability to drive a political agenda. Republican leaders care about Fox.

His audience is larger, and he launched Glenn Beck TV, which has evolved into Blaze Media. Christian Nationalists have been spending millions and millions of dollars pushing the Republican party farther and farther right. What Republican care about is money and they want more and more of it from Christian Nationalists. What both Christian Nationalists and Republicans need are people like (insert Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Candace Owen) to help evangelize their message to the demographic they've gotten to reliably turn out and vote for them.

Christian Nationalists will push Carlson even farther to the right and they'll provide him a platform and an audience that votes. Fox will replace Carlson with someone who will eventually grow to be just, or potentially more odious as he's forced to adopt an even more conservative message. Recycle and repeat.

This constant underestimating of how archconservatives get their message out and build their community is why we're so fucking fucked.
posted by OsoMeaty at 11:15 AM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

>Glenn Beck started a cable channel called The Blaze that failed, so he's fallen back to radio. These guys' audience and business sense is far below Fox News - they need Fox way more than Fox needs them.

The Blaze didn't fail, it merged with CRTV. The left framed this as a bailout of Beck, but regardless of how you frame it, you have to acknowledge that CRTV saw the utility in acquiring Beck's audience.
posted by OsoMeaty at 11:30 AM on April 25, 2023

The Blaze didn't fail, it merged with CRTV. The left framed this as a bailout of Beck, but regardless of how you frame it, you have to acknowledge that CRTV saw the utility in acquiring Beck's audience.

It's not on TV anymore, except on extremely niche networks and packages. The audience reach is not the same.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:42 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Blaze wasn't a failure, at least not initially. One can even argue that Tucker Carlson was a calculated pivot away from the kind of angry old-man outrage conservatism of Bill O'Reilly and towards the kind of conspiracy-minded, stochastic-terrorism of Glenn Beck who had expanded his audience after leaving Fox News in 2011.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:46 AM on April 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

Beck was successful enough peddling completely made up conspiracy theories and saying the quiet parts extra loud re: fascism that Fox News thought following suite would be profitable. This is how Tucker was able to shake his reputation as being a bit of a laughing stock after the Crossfire debacle--he recognized which way the crazy wind was blowing and he adjusted his on-air persona to take advantage of it.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 11:56 AM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

> Adios, mother-Tucker!

Yippee Ki Yay, Murdochfucker!
-or-
Yippee Ki Yay, VultureTucker!

> ...I suddenly realized that Fox viewers actively want lies. It's not that they are being suckered (tuckered?) but that they turn to Fox and other right wing channels for the lies they know are lies, that they want to hear.

On April 24, Tucker Carlson was asked to remove himself from his place of business; that request came from his boss. Deep down, he knew he was right, but he also knew that some day he would return. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his frenemy, Don Lemon. Several hours earlier, Lemon's boss had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two disgraced men share a TV show without driving each other crazy?

I would love to see this as a buddy comedy.
posted by slogger at 12:15 PM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

> I'm going to bet that FOX cut a generous severance package with Carlson that forbids him from talking about FOX.

It's looking like that might be a No:

[RadarOnline] "Fox News Refused To Pay Tucker Carlson Severance After Sudden Firing: 'Everyone Expects' Ousted Anchor To Launch Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Over Axing"
"Fox told Tucker Carlson’s lawyers were told he was fired 'with cause' concerning the ex-producer’s lawsuit, which claimed sexism, antisemitism, and harassment, RadarOnline.com has learned."
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 12:19 PM on April 25, 2023 [11 favorites]

Obama nailed it: "...each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Which was utterly softpedaled by Obama.

They cling to antipathy to people who aren't like them because they are explicitly told to cling to antipathy to people who aren't like them, whether it's by their segregated "news" media or by their friends and family or by their pastor or by message boards online or by their politicians and pundits.

They are told, both indirectly and explicitly, that prosperity and civil rights and dignity and financial security and jobs and social status are zero-sum; if some other person or group makes gains, that is at the expense of YOU, the Real Americans. They are told that their well-paying jobs, their dream house, their futures, their social prominence, their small towns, their industries, their perceived authority are draining away NOT because American prosperity is being steadily strip-mined by a smaller and smaller percentage of elites, but because THOSE PEOPLE who should be beneath Real Americans in every pecking order have everything handed to them on silver platters.

Lee Atwater's sliding scale still holds, but it also slides both ways. Sometimes the rabble get tired of hearing the euphemisms, the indirect references, the allusions to what they want -- which is for the old ways to come back and dominate and for the Other to know their place once more -- and simply want to hear it plainly and directly that they matter, that the Other doesn't, and that they're correct to believe and act that way.

And those are the people who are shedding tears for Tucker today and begging him and his ilk to start their own news network to continue spreading their "truth."
posted by delfin at 12:27 PM on April 25, 2023 [11 favorites]

Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks Huh. Looks like my record for being utterly wrong in my political predictions continues unbroken!

But I'll go on the line again here and predict that there's no way in hell Carlson will try for a Presidential run. He's never expressed the slightest interest in holding any political office, and I think he's media savy enough to know that going in to the Trump/DeSantis mud fight isn't going to be a good idea.
posted by sotonohito at 12:30 PM on April 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would love to see this as a buddy comedy.

As long as it includes a running gag where Tucker gets punched in the face at least once an episode, I'm in.

His face seriously looks like it should be punched pretty much all the time, I know some of it is my own massive bias against the man but I assert that he has, objectively, a face that screams "I deserve this punching". I just want his face to get what it's been asking for.
posted by VTX at 12:32 PM on April 25, 2023 [7 favorites]

This isn't related to the Tucker Carlson situation at all, but I did NOT see Nate Silver being let go by Disney coming at ALL.
posted by hippybear at 1:09 PM on April 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

it's one thing to acknowledge the actual violence Tucker Carlson has inspired and provoked among people who have come to hate and/or fear others, I guess it's weird to see him inspire violence in people who have strong antipathy for everything he represents.

somehow I think we lose either way, it's kind of a pressing question isn't it

I also find myself wanting to punch him to make him just shut the fuck up, but I can't reflect on that with any pride
posted by elkevelvet at 1:27 PM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

[RadarOnline] "Fox News Refused To Pay Tucker Carlson Severance After Sudden Firing: 'Everyone Expects' Ousted Anchor To Launch Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuit Over Axing"

Because discovery in lawsuits where Fox and Carlson are involved goes so well for them!
posted by Gelatin at 1:31 PM on April 25, 2023 [19 favorites]

This isn't related to the Tucker Carlson situation at all, but I did NOT see Nate Silver being let go by Disney coming at ALL.

Silver has been playing footsie with the anti-woke crowd ever since he kept on getting clowned on for his increasingly paranoid and dickish punditry on COVID, I wouldn't be particularly surprised if he hopped on the Substack hate train or some other nonsense like Bari Weiss' "Free Press" organization.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 2:04 PM on April 25, 2023 [16 favorites]

it's weird to see him inspire violence in people who have strong antipathy for everything he represents

Rage-baiting is very much part of the bully playbook. See also "so much for the tolerant left", etc.
posted by Not A Thing at 2:50 PM on April 25, 2023 [5 favorites]

Just to add to the speculation fun:

Vanity Fair Twitter: Tucker Carlson’s Prayer Talk May Have Led to Fox News Ouster: “That Stuff Freaks Rupert Out”

The actual Vanity Fair article (limited free views):

According to the source, Fox Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch removed Carlson over remarks Carlson made during a speech at the Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary gala on Friday night. Carlson laced his speech with religious overtones that even Murdoch found too extreme, the source, who was briefed on Murdoch’s decision-making, said. Carlson told the Heritage audience that national politics has become a manichean battle between “good” and “evil.” Carlson said that people advocating for transgender rights and DEI programs want to destroy America and they could not be persuaded with facts. “We should say that and stop engaging in these totally fraudulent debates…I’ve tried. That doesn’t work,” he said. The answer, Carlson suggested, was prayer. “I have concluded it might be worth taking just 10 minutes out of your busy schedule to say a prayer for the future, and I hope you will,” he said. “That stuff freaks Rupert out. He doesn’t like all the spiritual talk,” the source said.

Also from Vanity Fair via The Independnet UK: ‘Blindsided’ Fox News host was negotiating new contract when Murdoch fired him.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha
posted by soundguy99 at 3:43 PM on April 25, 2023 [18 favorites]

Is the Taliban killing the person who did the Kabul Airport bombing a part of this whole trend?
posted by hippybear at 4:51 PM on April 25, 2023

Rolling Stone: Fox Has a Secret ‘Oppo File’ to Keep Tucker Carlson in Check, Sources Say.

"Eight people familiar with the situation tell Rolling Stone that Fox News and its communications department — long led by the notoriously aggressive Irena Briganti — has assembled damaging information about Carlson. One source with knowledge calls it an “oppo file.” Two sources add that Fox is prepared to disclose some of its contents if execs suspect that Carlson is coming after the network"

posted by JoeZydeco at 5:52 PM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

I just finished reading Mike Rinder’s book, A Billion Years, his story about his life since childhood in Scientology. He’s now out. He paints it as a very evil organization. This story about the “oppo file” sounds quite credible regarding Fox, another evil organization. As long as you follow the rules they treat you very well. But if you break the rules, be ready to face any form of retribution. Keeping files on people, as did Scientology, and more than likely Fox, is good way to exert control on people. Carlson deserves anything he gets.
posted by njohnson23 at 6:23 PM on April 25, 2023 [3 favorites]

That oppo file might mean Fox will put their weight behind a Carlson presidency in a few years' time.
posted by tigrrrlily at 7:07 PM on April 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

Carlson would never withstand a presidential run. He's far too fragile. If you're believing anything different, you haven't been paying attention.
posted by hippybear at 7:09 PM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

I doubt Carlson would ever seriously run for office, for the same reasons Limbaugh didn't do it, why Palin won't do it ever again. They don't have to do the dirty work of the actual grifting and looting and destruction, and they get paid to sell their souls in front of an audience of rabid worshipers.
posted by Saxon Kane at 7:19 PM on April 25, 2023 [6 favorites]

Fox News and its communications department — long led by the notoriously aggressive Irena Briganti — has assembled damaging information about Carlson. One source with knowledge calls it an “oppo file.”

... which presumably means they have a similar file on each of their other star presenters too. Fox's very own Agamemno Contingency, in fact.
posted by Paul Slade at 11:24 PM on April 25, 2023

which presumably means they have a similar file on each of their other star presenters too

But of course. If you're in that kind of propaganda-adjacent business, you probably don't want a high level presenter you don't have at least some leverage over. Kompromat, etc.
posted by jaduncan at 2:20 AM on April 26, 2023

Fox News and its communications department — long led by the notoriously aggressive Irena Briganti — has assembled damaging information about Carlson. One source with knowledge calls it an “oppo file.”

It also means Carlson has a documented history of bad behavior that Fox tolerated.

I can think of plenty of things that fascists would put in an oppo file that wouldn't qualify as "bad behavior" that would reflect badly on Fox as an employer.
posted by Etrigan at 5:05 AM on April 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I can think of plenty of things that fascists would put in an oppo file that wouldn't qualify as "bad behavior" that would reflect badly on Fox as an employer.

Point, but some of what I read about the so-called "oppo file" referred to things like creating a toxic work environment and belittling subordinates. Which, if true, wouldn't surprise me at all.
posted by Gelatin at 5:15 AM on April 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Several comments removed. Yes Tucker is thoroughly unlikable, but per the Content Policy, we can express that dislike while avoiding jokes about rape, death, genitals and/or gender affirming surgery, thanks.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:05 AM on April 26, 2023 [13 favorites]

It’s so interesting that Murdoch supposedly draws a bright line at religiosity. The number one reason that Fox has such a devoted fan base (keyword: devoted) is religion and belief in religion. Evangelicals are their bread and butter. He supposedly broke off his engagement to a woman who was evangelical due to her devotion and fervor for Carlson, calling him a messenger of God. Like, yeah, I would break off that relationship, too, but way, wayyyy before that. Murdoch is an old, petty, f*cker. His days are truly numbered. But if he is still under a delusion that the Christian Right doesn’t have a full overlap with Fox News…? I don’t even know. The day he is in the ground is the day the whole network shifts to Republican Jesus radicalism. Too little, too late, Murdoch.
posted by amanda at 7:26 AM on April 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

One fun detail that I've not seen mentioned in here:

When he signed off on his last show, Carlson had no idea this was coming. (Apparently this was such short notice that he found out only 10 minutes after he arrived at the FOX studio on Monday.)

So Carlson signed off his show with a pitch for an upcoming episode of his "documentary magazine" streaming on FOX'S web site, a series called "Tucker Carlson Originals". This episode was supposed to be his deep dive into a theory that climate-change and environmental activists were going to force everyone to give up meat and eat insects instead.

And thus, the very last thing Tucker Carlson talked about on FOX news was: eating bugs.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:42 AM on April 26, 2023 [11 favorites]

Alexandra Petri, WaPo: There is no Tucker Carlson on tonight

The Devil’s advocate is off the air; his client must seek new representation.

Tonight, if you say, “Roku, show me the exact diametric opposite of ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,’ ” your TV will not have a ready answer.

But there is no Tucker on tonight. For one vertiginous hour, his viewers must guess on their own whom to hate. I do not envy them; it is not easy to know who will be his next target! You would think “people” would be a good bet, but sometimes it is not people at all, but M&Ms! Tuckerless, his fans will be forced to conjure baseless conspiracy theories on their own. Who is pulling the strings, and what are the strings? It will be lonely, sitting there unsure of whom to rail against. (And supposing they guess wrong?)

But at least there is no Tucker on tonight. If you want to watch someone spout white-supremacist talking points, you will have to be pushed down a YouTube rabbit hole by a malign algorithm like everyone else.

There is something unsettling about the disappearance, like when the sea draws back before the wave hits. Could this really have happened at any time? There was no curse keeping him there? All those nights spewing his conspiracy theories and anger, he could simply have ... not?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:26 AM on April 26, 2023 [19 favorites]

Alexandra Petri is a national treasure.
posted by Gelatin at 10:12 AM on April 26, 2023 [7 favorites]

I don't think it's Scientology-level work that Fox is doing here, I think it's more of a very public signal to Tucker to shut the fuck up or else Grossberg gets a nice tall stack of material that Fox's lawyers dug up during their Dominion prep.

I’m skeptical that Fox’s lawyers would participate in any such scheme. Most of what they’ve found will have to be handed over during discovery and if they don’t and it leaks — it always does — then they are beyond fucked in court.

Fox has other ways to silence Tucker. I’m sure his contact includes NDA, non-disparagement and other clauses that continue following cancellation of his show.
posted by interogative mood at 10:17 AM on April 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I’m skeptical that Fox’s lawyers would participate in any such scheme. Most of what they’ve found will have to be handed over during discovery

I'm not sure that's true. They basically had access to his entire life and I'm sure he's involved in quite a bit that wouldn't have been relevant to this trial.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:00 PM on April 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

^ Carlson co-founded The Daily Caller in 2010, and was its first editor-in-chief. He sold his 1/3 stake to the other founder, Neil Patel (his Trinity College roommate) in 2020. (Foster Friess, whose $3 million initially funded the Daily Caller, died in 2021.) He's an Orbán fanboy who traveled to Hungary in 2021 (Tucker Carlson joins the right-wing pilgrimage to Budapest, The Week, Aug. 3 2021). In the weeks before the trip, he was tangling with the NSA, accusing the agency of "spying" on him as he sought a Putin interview. Carlson released the film Hungary vs. Soros on Fox Nation in Jan. 2022. Guy's got an army of skeletons in his closet.

Howard Stern weighs in on Tucker Carlson exit: He forgot he was ‘worker bee’ for Murdoch (The Hill, April 26 2023) “I’ve been a big money earner for radio companies for a long time now, but there’s one thing I never forget. My boss is super wealthy. Like if you work for Rupert Murdoch, you know that motherf—– got so many billions that as important as Tucker Carlson might be to the Fox Network, he will fire your ass if you’re a pain in the ass,” Stern said on Wednesday’s program.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:06 PM on April 26, 2023 [5 favorites]

For Tucker's viewers, devastating oppo is probably all the actual hobnobbing and ass-kissing he's done with librul mainsteam media lizard elites.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:51 PM on April 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Has to be hobnobbing with liberals, snuffleupagus. Probably even clips of him saying Hillary was fun to hang out with and funnier than Trump.
posted by glaucon at 3:57 PM on April 26, 2023

Hasta la vista, motherfucker.
posted by mule98J at 4:02 PM on April 26, 2023 [3 favorites]

I heard Carlson's recent statement-- he blasts the media in general for not telling the truth, while ignoring that he was a major media figure. It sounds to me like he's thinking about starting his own network.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 2:51 AM on April 27, 2023

A summary
posted by porpoise at 7:11 AM on April 27, 2023

Murdoch won't tolerate a minion who might bend a knee to someone else, human or deity. (It'd be stupid for him to do so. He's evil, but not stupid.)
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:17 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

On Eve of Trial, Discovery of Carlson Texts Set Off Crisis Atop Fox

The day before Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation trial against Fox News was set to begin in a Delaware courthouse, the Fox board of directors and top executives made a startling discovery that helped lead to the breaking point between the network and Tucker Carlson, one of its top stars.

Private messages sent by Mr. Carlson that had been redacted in legal filings showed him making highly offensive and crude remarks that went beyond the inflammatory, often racist comments of his prime-time show and anything disclosed in the lead-up to the trial.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 10:34 AM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Private messages sent by Mr. Carlson that had been redacted in legal filings showed him making highly offensive and crude remarks that went beyond the inflammatory, often racist comments of his prime-time show and anything disclosed in the lead-up to the trial.

Unsurprisingly, it sounds like they were largely misogynistic; the NYT even primly says that he used "a crude and misogynistic slur" for Sidney Powell, and a "similar vulgarity" for a senior Fox exec. They also have video of him pondering whether "my postmenopausal fans" will dig how he looks, and another video where he describes a woman as "yummy".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:43 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Is the implication of all these news stories that Fox suddenly cares about misogyny?
posted by trig at 2:18 PM on April 27, 2023

No, Fox cares about being sued for sexual harassment and hostile workplace charges. They've a history with this with past hosts.
posted by hippybear at 2:31 PM on April 27, 2023 [5 favorites]

One of the may things that has Ailesed them.
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:30 PM on April 27, 2023 [3 favorites]

Tucker Carlson's history of alleged workplace sexism stretches back to 2015, long before Abby Grossberg
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:25 PM on April 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Tucker Carlson Was Fired After Calling a Fox Executive the C-Word (NY Mag, April 27, 2023)

Carlson did not want the damning message redacted from the lawsuit. “He told his colleagues that he wanted the world to know what he had said about the executive in a private message,” the report states. He compared it to his “I hate him passionately” comment about Trump. While that was said amid a short burst of anger, his resentment toward the executive was “deep and enduring,” per the Journal, which is owned by News Corp., the sister company of Fox’s parent. [...]

The New York Times reports that one of the reasons the matter came to a head was that Fox’s board of directors and top executives only learned about the contents of the redacted messages the day before the Dominion trial was supposed to begin. If the lawsuit had gone to trial, Dominion lawyers were apparently going to push to be able to use the contents of the redacted messages during their questioning of Carlson, “and they planned to pin him down on the ones that were most demeaning toward women,” per the Times.[...]

According to a lawsuit filed by his producer Abby Grossberg, Carlson oversaw a toxic environment on his show in which misogyny, including the use of the C-word by men on the team, and antisemitism were rampant. (In an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday, Grossberg said Carlson made her life a “living hell.”)

According to a Washington Post report, Rupert Murdoch had also become concerned with Carlson’s presentation of the Ukraine war — like one onscreen graphic of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “Ukrainian pimp.” After one segment in March, Murdoch went into the newsroom to “loudly challenge Carlson’s message,” according to the Post.

posted by Iris Gambol at 6:29 PM on April 27, 2023 [5 favorites]

I'm glad Tucker has been introduced to another C-word: consequences.
posted by mazola at 8:29 AM on April 28, 2023 [4 favorites]

I think it’s important to point out that all the NYT knows about the the texts is what Fox’s lawyers chose to show them. There’s nothing in there confirming that he was fired over those specific texts that lawyers were willing to show a newspaper and not over something far worse.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:53 AM on April 29, 2023 [5 favorites]

Tucker Carlson announces plans to relaunch his show on Twitter
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:10 AM on May 10, 2023

When Carlson said he was leaving Fox, he sounded to me like he wanted to start his own network-- setting up on twitter isn't quite the same, but I still feel half right. I don't think he wants to go into politics.

Meanwhile, it isn't obvious to me that twitter can make money by having a Tucker Carlson show, but maybe I'm missing something.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 8:30 AM on May 10, 2023

Twittter benefits from users and engagement, the more of which it has the better able it is to sell advertising.

Also it’s owned by a right wing shithead who wants to keep the far right propaganda flowing.

These two goals may be at odds.

For Carlson: There’s been talk of high Twitter users getting a cut of the advertising on their posts, but that is very much vapourware that has not arrived.

Also this would involve getting money out of Elon Musk, which, ha ha ha, no.

So it’s probably just “for exposure”/to keep the far right propaganda flowing.
posted by Artw at 8:49 AM on May 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

Latest spin: "On April 26, Carlson spoke by phone with one of Fox Corp.’s eight board members, who told the host that his recent benching was a condition of Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation. The unnamed board member told Carlson that the condition does not appear in any of the settlement’s documents, and instead was a verbal agreement. If Fox didn’t comply, the settlement was off, Carlson was told. [...]

"Dominion was looking for the best way to maim the conservative news network, and forcing Fox News to cut ties with the most-watched personality in cable news would deal a potentially insurmountable blow and lead to a viewer exodus, according to Carlson’s understanding. [...]

"Dominion and Fox Corp. both strongly dispute that the decision to take Carlson off the air was directly linked to the settlement." (Inside Tucker Carlson’s Battle to Trade His $20 Million Fox News Salary for a Twitter Show, Variety via Yahoo News link, May 16, 2023)
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:16 AM on May 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

That sounds possibly made up, tbh.
posted by Artw at 11:22 AM on May 16, 2023

On April 26, Carlson spoke by phone with one of Fox Corp.’s eight board members, who told the host that his recent benching was a condition of Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation

"Look, we don't want to do this, but we have to, Tucker. So there's no need to blame me for it, right? It's someone else's fault, right? Fucking lawyers, man, whaddaya gonna do? So I don't have to hire bodyguards for my kids, right? You're not going to point a finger at me..."
posted by Etrigan at 12:02 PM on May 16, 2023 [3 favorites]

The unnamed "multiple sources" for the Variety story are are clearly Carlson surrogates, adding in things like "Fox will implode if they challenge Carlson because they'd be against FREE SPEECH!" and "Fox's on-air talent is lining up to join Carlson in his new venture!" (Slightly hyperbolic paraphrasing on my part, but not by much.)

Newspapers have been trying to get better about saying why anonymous sources know something and why they get to be anonymous, with mixed results. Variety does nothing like that though, only saying the sources have "knowledge of" the conversation. It could be two people who heard Carlson claim there was a phone call. Heck, given the conventions of anonymous sourcing, it's possible one of those source is Carlson himself.

It's certainly possible this account is accurate; it wouldn't be out of character for a corporation to fire someone for this reason. Or to fire someone for a different reason but then blame a lawyer. But I wouldn't give it any more credibility than if Carlson said the same thing on air.
posted by mark k at 10:55 AM on May 17, 2023

Tucker Carlson announces plans to relaunch his show on Twitter

The idea of a base of Fox News viewers abandoning the TV to fire up twitter on their computers intrigues me.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 12:44 PM on May 17, 2023

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