Fox News Fires Remainder of Tucker Carlson's Staffers, Offers 'Enhanced Severance' If They Stay Through July 14
Fox News fired the remainder of Tucker Carlson’s staff this week as the network also announced a sudden shakeup of its usual prime-time lineup, RadarOnline.com can report.
In a sudden development to come two months after Carlson was abruptly fired from the Rupert Murdoch-owned conservative news network on April 24, Fox News laid off the remaining eight members of the Tucker Carlson Tonight staff.
The layoffs this week also came shortly after two of Carlson’s former staffers – Alexander McCaskill and Thomas Fox – departed the network earlier this month.
According to Mediaite, the eight Tucker Carlson Tonight staffers fired on Monday were offered an “enhanced severance” package if they stayed with the network until July 14.
The eight staffers were also reportedly offered the opportunity to apply for other positions currently open at Fox News.
Meanwhile, Fox News also announced a dramatic shakeup of its prime-time lineup now that Carlson’s popular program has left a void in the network’s prime-time schedule.
Jesse Watters, who currently hosts Jesse Watters Tonight at 7 PM, will soon take over Tucker Carlson Tonight’s previous timeslot at 8 PM.
Laura Ingraham’s program will also reportedly be moved to 7 PM, while Sean Hannity will remain at 9 PM and Greg Gutfeld will shift to 10 PM.
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As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Carlson was unceremoniously canned from Fox News in April shortly after the network settled a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.
"Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network said in a short statement on April 24. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
But despite being removed from the air, Fox News reportedly plans to keep Carlson’s contract active until January 2025 in an effort to keep the former network star off the air during the 2024 presidential election.
Earlier this month, after Carlson launched a new show on Twitter, Fox News argued that the 54-year-old breached his still-active contract. The network reportedly fired off a legal letter reminding Carlson that his “services shall be completely exclusive to Fox.”
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"In connection with such breach and pursuant to the Agreement, Fox expressly reserves all rights and remedies which are available to it at law or equity," the letter read.
Carlson's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, slammed the legal letter and accused Fox News of trying to take away Carlson’s “freedom of speech.”
"Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds,” Freedman said in response to the network. “Now they want to take Tucker Carlson's right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events.”