![Several CNN hosts were shocked to learn the news Monday that Fox News and Tucker Carlson have parted ways. [Screenshot CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screenshot-2023-04-24-at-1.00.46-PM-e1682357826537.png "Several CNN hosts were shocked to learn the news Monday that Fox News and Tucker Carlson have parted ways. [Screenshot CNN]")
Several CNN hosts were shocked to learn on air that Tucker Carlson was leaving Fox News.
Fox News announced Monday that it was parting ways with Carlson, putting out a brief statement thanking him for his time at the company. No further details were provided.
“This is really stunning news coming from Fox. They say his last show was April 21st. They put out a short statement. They say they they thank him for his service, and that is it, that’s all we know right now,” senior media reporter Oliver Darcy said, noting that the announcement comes on the heels of Fox’s $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. “[Fox News] stuck with him through quite a lot … really shocking news that now he is now no longer with the network.” (RELATED: Fox Announces What Will Happen To Tucker’s Slot)
“The big question, as you say, is ‘Why?’ Why now? Fox has let their number-one people go before. I mean, Bill O’Reilly, they pushed out when he was number one” CNN’s John Berman said. “They’re doing this now with Tucker Carlson. We talk about this happening in the wake of the Dominion decision. Now, it’s interesting with Carlson, which is that it wasn’t his show … that Dominion was suing over, necessarily, for promoting false news. It was some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that was legally problematic for Fox, but he wasn’t one of the people who helped get them in trouble with Dominion.”
“Tucker Carlson, outside Donald Trump, really was the person commanding the GOP, really directing it,” Darcy said. “You saw Republican lawmakers, prominent Republican lawmakers, often grovel at his feet.”
“This is not only huge news in the world of media, but also in the world of politics,” he added.
Host Kate Bolduan added that “Republican lawmakers or anyone who wanted to speak to Donald Trump” frequently appeared on Carlson’s show because “they knew that Donald Trump would be watching and so closely tracking that show.”
Bolduan later quoted Fox’s statement.
“‘We’ve decided to part ways’ is not a way you send off your top-rated anybody on any show for any reason. You don’t cast them aside or part ways with them unless something is wrong,” she said.