Tucker Carlson out at Fox News in surprise announcement

Fox News and its most popular host, Tucker Carlson, have parted ways, the network said Monday in a surprise announcement.

“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” Fox News said in a statement.

Carlson’s last show was Friday, April 21. Fox News Tonight will be hosted by a rotating cast of network personalities, starting with Brian Kilmeade, until a replacement is named.

Carlson could not be reached for comment.

» READ MORE: Don Lemon says he was fired by CNN

It’s unclear what led to the sudden separation between the nation’s most-watched cable news network and its most popular opinion host. Carlson hosted his show Friday, signing off by saying, “We’ll be back on Monday. In the meantime, have the best weekend with the ones that you love. We’ll see you then.”

Carlson first joined Fox News as a contributor in 2009 after previously serving as a political commentator on CNN, PBS, and MSNBC. In 2017, Carlson took over the network’s 8 p.m. hour after Bill O’Reilly was forced out after The New York Times revealed he paid millions to several former Fox News personalities to settle claims of sexual and verbal harassment.

Carlson’s departure comes a week after Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle a lawsuit over false claims hosts and personalities at the network promoted following the 2020 presidential election. Fox News also faces a $2.7 billion defamation case from election company Smartmatic.

Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg is suing the network and Carlson, claiming among other things that she faced sexism and misogyny while a producer on Carlson’s show. In one example, Grossberg claimed on her first day working for the show, she was greeted by large photographs of “Nancy Pelosi in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage.” She also claimed misogynistic views of women were widely and openly shared by the show’s staff using graphic language.

Fox News has denied those allegations.

Reacting to the news of Carlson’s sudden departure from the network, Grossberg called it a “big win” for cable news.

“This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand at the network, as well as for the abuse and harassment I endured” while working on Carlson’s show, Grossberg said in a statement. “This is some justice for the American people and for Fox News viewers who’ve been manipulated and lied to for years, all in an attempt to boost the channel’s ratings and revenue.”

While Dominion’s lawsuit focused more on lies about the election being promoted by other Fox News hosts, embarrassing messages between Carlson and an unnamed Fox News employee released during the discovery phase revealed anger and distain about former President Donald Trump.

In one message, Carlson wrote of Trump, “I hate him passionately.” In another, he signaled relief at “being able to ignore Trump most nights.”

But he was also highly critical of management at Fox News following the election after ratings dipped and viewers looked to other right-wing news outlets promoting Trump’s election lies, such as Newsmax.

“Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we’ve lost with our audience?” Carlson wrote a producer the day after Fox called the election for Joe Biden, citing Newsmax as an alternative.

Last year, Carlson signed a multiyear deal that expanded his role at Fox News to include hosting a weekly podcast and producing monthly specials for Fox Nation, the network’s streaming service. The news of his sudden departure shocked the media world both inside and outside of Fox News, with one on-air personality telling the Washington Post, “It sends a message that even the guy with the highest ratings of all, by a long shot, doesn’t get to survive this disaster.”

“When CNN ended Reliable Sources, I was offered a final episode, a chance to sign off on my own terms. I really appreciated that. I think viewers did too,” former CNN host Brian Stelter wrote on Twitter. “Tucker leaving Fox WITHOUT even saying goodbye? Stunning.”

Carlson isn’t the only cable news star to be out of a job. Don Lemon also announced on Monday he had been fired by CNN after spending the last 17 years as an anchor and reporter.

It also isn’t just Carlson who is departing Fox News. Justin Wells, Carlson’s executive producer, is also out at the network after 15 years, according to multiple reports. Wells is also named in Grossberg’s lawsuit.