Two weeks after Fox News jettisoned Tucker Carlson, its former star host is fighting back.
According to Axios, Carlson is claiming the network breached its contract with him and is accusing it of fraud.
By arguing that Fox broke the agreement, Carlson is taking the position that he is now free to move on with his career as he sees fit.
To that end, he announced Tuesday that he will be offering a show on Twitter.
âStarting soon, weâll be bringing a new version of the show weâve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter. Weâll be bringing some other things too, which weâll tell you about,â he said in a video.
âBut for now, weâre just grateful to be here. Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others. See you soon.â
Axios reported that Carlsonâs attorneys fired off a missive to Fox prior to Carlson announcing that he would start a new venture.
Although Fox benched Carlson, it still has him under contract through January 2025. Fox is willing to keep paying him, but Carlson wants to get out from under the contract and strike out on his own.
Since Fox fired him, Carlson has receivedmultipleoffers of employment from other news outlets and media companies.
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Carlsonâs letter says Fox executives, including Rupert Murdoch, broke promises âintentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth.â
The letter claims Fox execs made âmaterial representationsâ to Carlson, which the letter says amounts to fraud. Axiosâ sources said the executives in question were Murdoch and Viet Dinh, Foxâs top legal officer.
According to the letter, Fox promised it would not leak Carlsonâs privatecommunications or use those messages âto take any adverse employment action against him.â
The letter also claims Fox broke promises not to settle the lawsuit filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems âin a way which would indicate wrongdoingâ on Carlsonâs part or take actions to hurt his reputation.
According to Axiosâ sources, Carlson was told by a Fox board member that the $787.5 million settlement was the reason he was removed.
âThese actions not only breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the Agreement, but give rise to claims for breach of contract, and intentional and negligent misrepresentation,â the letter says.
Fox and Dominion have both said Carlsonâs ouster was not related to the settlement.
âDominion did not insist on them firing Tucker Carlson as part of the settlement,â said Stephen Shackelford, an attorney who represented Dominion.
The letter claims Irena Briganti, Foxâs communications chief, tried to âundermine, embarrass, and interfereâ with Carlsonâs post-Fox prospects.
Former Fox host Megyn Kelly has theorized that Briganti is behind leaks of off-air comments Carlson made on the set of his show. Kelly claimed Briganti âf***ing hates Tucker. ⊠She hates his guts.â
On a recent earnings call in which Fox noted that it posted a $50 million loss last quarter due in part to the Dominion settlement, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said there are no major changes for the network ahead.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
