Fmr. Fox host Gretchen Carlson weighs in on Tucker departure after her own tangle with network

Short on facts and having little information, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson responded to the departure of Tucker Carlson, no relation, to claim that the network “is in survival mode, trying to avoid further litigation and sweep its bad behavior under the rug.”

Gretchen Carlson, as you may recall, received a $20 million settlement after suing then-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in 2016 for sexual harassment. Still holding a grudge, it seems, she penned an op-ed run by the Daily Beast and tied Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems to Carlson’s departure, which is just conjecture at this point, questioning whether the shocking move would be “meaningful.”

“The big question is whether the changes made since the Dominion settlement—including Tucker Carlson’s firing—will be meaningful,” Gretchen wrote. “We have not seen any apologies from Carlson for the wild conspiracy theories he has pushed on viewers, or the numerous lies that came out during discovery in the Dominion suit. His removal may be shocking to some, but it will only matter if it’s followed with the acknowledgment that the network has caused harm to our nation’s democratic principles, and to the integrity and journalistic ethics of a free press—namely, telling the truth, no matter what perspective one represents.”

Odd that she doesn’t apply this exacting standard to the pro-Democrat networks CNN and MSNBC.

There have been a lot of rumors about Carlson’s exit. The Dominion settlement is at the top of that list, and another theory getting traction is that Big Pharma may have played a role. The Los Angeles Times reported that “the decision to fire Carlson came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch with input from board members and other Fox Corp. executives,” and that the decision was related to a discrimination lawsuit filed earlier this year by former booker Abby Grossberg. Hell, there’s even a claim the U.S. government was behind Carlson’s departure due to his fevered opposition to the war in Ukraine.

With little to work with, Gretchen Carlson questioned if his exit was “the beginning of a new era” at Fox News or whether it was merely a “grand gesture.”

“It is hard to say whether all this is the beginning of a new era for Fox, or just another grand gesture to protect the company’s culture while protecting it from liability. But for real changes to take hold, Fox needs a genuine recommitment to journalism,” she wrote.

“Getting rid of one conspiracy monger, or all of them, might be big news and an extraordinary step,” Gretchen continued. “But if new faces are permitted to peddle the same lies, intentionally misleading the public by lying about the outcome of elections, the network will only further damage the foundations of our democracy and erode trusted institutions, including a free press. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fresh face on TV if it starts to spout the same lies.”

Stating a goal of “bringing Fox to justice,” the self-appointed arbiter admitted she has little knowledge when she stated, “Since my case was resolved, Fox has repeatedly said that it has moved on from its toxic culture. I don’t know if that’s true or not.”

Carlson concluded, “Unless enormous change happens up and down the organization, including at the very top, then the ouster of Tucker Carlson—and any other potential scapegoats who told the same lies and whose departures may follow—is meaningless. We have a long way to go in bringing Fox to justice, but gradually, through the cases of Abby Grossberg, Ray Epps, Dominion, and myself, we are shedding light on dark truths that were allowed to fester behind closed doors for far too long.”

Tom Tillison

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