Two long-serving U.S. cable news hosts are abruptly gone from their respective networks with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and CNN’s Don Lemon both ousted from their positions.
Fox News says in a statement that Carlson’s last program was this past Friday and they have “mutually agreed to part ways”. An interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities will be in Carlson’s old timeslot until a new host is named.
Carlson’s exit comes less than a week after Fox News agreed to pay a $787.5 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems over the election software company’s defamation claim. Carlson was slated to be among the witnesses to testify had it gone to trial.
The exit after fourteen years with the network was a surprise as Carlson’s show averaged 3.25 million viewers in March – the largest audience in cable news. He was the network’s most watched personality, but also its most controversial.
Lemon, meanwhile, is exiting CNN after seventeen years. One of the network’s most popular faces in recent years, he announced on social media today he had been ousted from CNN – saying he was “stunned” and blindsided by the news.
Lemon has been under scrutiny since February following remarks suggesting Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley was past her ‘prime’ – remarks he hasn’t been able to shake off despite multiple apologies.
Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins are expected to take up the reins at “CNN This Morning”.
Source: Deadline
