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Fox to Budweiser: Hold my beer. Insiders start to dish on who decided to oust Tucker as Fox stock crashes

April 25, 2023 | | Print Article

Americans were shocked on Monday as Fox News pulled what many see as a Budweiser move, booting host Tucker Carlson who was their main draw without allegedly giving him a reason why and causing their stock to tank.

(Video Credit: Insider Edition)

As the stunning news broke that Fox News’ biggest star was suddenly just gone, the company’s stock nosedived hard. The parent company of Fox News saw its stock drop by more than 5% in value just minutes after it announced the network was parting ways with Carlson, according to Business Insider.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Fox’s stock rebounded and only cratered $500 million by the end of trading on Monday, “By midday on Monday afternoon, shares of Fox Corporation fell roughly 5.4 percent falling from $34 per share to under $32, although the company’s stock rebounded somewhat to a fall of 2.9 percent before the end of trading.”

As Fox stock tumbled, investors began buying up shares of Rumble, the conservative video network backed by Peter Thiel, together with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company that merged with Trump Media. Rumble stock shot up 6 percent while Digital World rallied 2.9 percent.

“Tucker Carlson Tonight” was only outdone by “The Five” on the network in ratings and at times the show even edged it out. Carlson was negotiating the renewal of his Fox News contract through 2029 for $20 million a year, and it was expected to be renewed, Vanity Fair reported.

Carlson’s departure not only shocked conservatives, it reportedly came as a surprise to him as well, blindsiding the host according to the Daily Mail. No specific reason has been announced yet. It follows Fox’s nearly $800 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems but it could very well have had something to do with Jan. 6 coverage or other topics as well.

“No one I know was told about it beforehand. We were blindsided,” one senior staffer who allegedly works closely with Carlson’s show told the Daily Mail.

Another insider told the media outlet he still has no idea why he was let go so suddenly. He claims that many staffers are now questioning whether it’s part of a wider plan by the Murdoch family to sell the media giant.

“Tucker still hasn’t been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin Wells was fired too. We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and it’s harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star. Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy,” the source claimed.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Carlson being fired was a combination of his coverage of the January 6 riot and a recent lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, a former producer who accused the host and his team of sexism, bullying, and antisemitism.

Sources told the Los Angeles Times that Rupert Murdoch gave the order for Carlson to be nixed. Mediaite is reporting that Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott decided to fire Carlson on Friday night.

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said.”

The paper also claimed that executives were angry at the “disparaging and derogatory remarks” Carlson allegedly made about colleagues. That reportedly included a plea that White House reporter Jacqui Heinrich be fired for fact-checking Trump, and calling his bosses “incompetent liberals” and “f***ers.”

The comments were made public as part of the Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit.

Echoing CNN’s disastrous parting with host Chris Cuomo, Fox News said it would fill the 8 pm hour with a rotation of Fox News personalities until it named a new host.

Immediately after the announcement that Carlson was leaving, conservatives began comparing Fox News’ decision to the boneheaded move of Bud Light hooking up with transgender Dylan Mulvaney. That ill-conceived ad campaign has devastated the company’s bottom line and has alienated much of its consumer demographic.

Frequent Fox News guest Michael Tracey stated, “Fox News has eliminated the only reason why anyone under 40 pays any attention to Fox News.”

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene flamed Fox News over the decision, “Cable news is about to be taught a powerful lesson after Fox News caved to the woke mob and fired Tucker Carlson. Americans no longer blindly watch the news like they did decades ago, they only watch the ones who have courage to tell the truth. Americans are about to quit watching.”

Venture Capitalist David Sacks drew the comparison of Fox News to Bud Light, “Tonight I’ll be watching Fox News drinking Bud Light. Not.”

“By losing Tucker, Fox News is now the Bud Light of Nike Sports Bras,” DC Draino tweeted.

Former police officer Gunther Eagleman nailed it, “Fox News to Bud Light… ‘Hold my beer.'”

Former President Trump had his own take on the shocking departure of Carlson, telling Newsmax host Greg Kelly, “Well I’m shocked. I’m surprised. He’s a very good person, a very good man and very talented as you know and he had very high ratings. We’re just learning about it almost as we speak.”

(Video Credit: NewsMax)

“I don’t know if it was voluntary or was – somebody fired, but I think Tucker’s been terrific,” Trump added. “He’s been – especially over the last year or so – he’s been terrific to me.”

“I’m not representing them at all by any means but the Tucker situation – you don’t know if it’s a firing, maybe he left because he wasn’t given a free rein – he wants free rein maybe. I was surprised by it,” the former president stated.

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