Tucker Carlson to Twitter: Fired Fox News host reveals new home for an upcoming show

Author: Editors Desk Source: USA Today

May 9, 2023 at 22:24

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who was axed by the network in a shock move last month, has made a huge announcement about his future.

Just two weeks after his firing from Fox News, Tucker Carlson is starting a new show that he promises will be similar to his top-rated cable show "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

But now it will stream on Twitter. Carlson, 53, announced the new still-untitled program with a three-minute video on his Twitter account Tuesday with a tweet that said simply, "We're back."

"Starting soon we will be doing a new version of the show we've been doing for the last six-and-a-half years to Twitter, and some other things too, which we will tell you about. But for now, we are just grateful to be here," said Carlson. "Free speech is the main right you have, without it you have no others."

Carlson’s website was updated Tuesday and led with the headline “Tucker is back,” featuring a signup so users can receive details when they are officially announced. But Carlson provided no further details, and instead criticized the media (again) for "misleading" Americans.

More:Everything to know about top-rated Fox News host Tucker Carlson's exit: A seismic cable shift

We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023

The move is a potential win for Twitter, the social media platform acquired by Elon Musk last October and in the midst of an upheaval, where Carlson says he will be able to speak freely.

"Speech is the fundamental prerequisite for democracy. That’s why it was enshrined in the first of our Constitutional amendments,” Carlson said in the video. “Amazingly, as of tonight, there are not that many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining … is Twitter, where we are now."

Carlson said he was looking "for the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can. But you know there are limits. And you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it."

Musk tweeted that Twitter has "not signed a deal of any kind" with Carlson, but promised future revenue-sharing opportunities that would allow him to monetize his appearances.

On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever is said.

And, of course, anything misleading will get @CommunityNotes.

I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is… https://t.co/0TMjuYnKUp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023

Tucker Carlson as host of 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.' — Tucker Carlson as host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

Carlson's last hosting duty for his prime-time conservative opinion show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" was April 21. He was fired from the network three days later, following Fox's $787 million payout to Dominion Voting Systems, in a seismic shift in the cable landscape. An interim show, consisting of rotating Fox News personalities, has filled in until a new host is named, but Fox's primetime ratings have plunged in the wake of his departure.

Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the new job would violate Carlson's non-compete exit package. Axios reported on Tuesday that Carlson's lawyers sent a letter to Fox accusing the network of fraud and breach of contract, as negotiations appear to have stalled over extricating him from his contract. Axios reported he is owed $20 million for the remainder of his contract, which ends in January 2025, but preserving it would keep him off the air until after the next presidential election.