Why Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News

The top-rated Fox News host was dumped with little explanation, but both sides dropped hints through anonymous sources

Tucker Carlson
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Tucker Carlson, the top-rated host in cable news, "agreed to part ways" with his employer, Fox News, effective immediately, the network announced Monday morning. It was a shocking announcement, seemingly out of the blue, and nobody was more surprised than Carlson, who found out he was being let go an hour before Fox News told the world, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Fox News did not explain why Carlson was being pushed out, and Carlson has not commented publicly on his departure. In fact, "Carlson has told people he doesn't know why he was terminated," and Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott would tell him only that the decision came "from above," Gabriel Sherman reports at Vanity Fair. But if Fox News and Carlson have been tight-lipped, their silence has been more than filled by knowledgeable unidentified sources dishing to reporters, often with conflicting stories.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.