Global Courant
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Fox News sent Tucker Carlson a “cease and desist” letter about his new Twitter series, Axios reported Monday, amid reports of a contract battle between the conservative network and its former primetime host.
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Carlson was fired from Fox in late April, less than a week after Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to settle an explosive libel suit. The network gave no explanation for the firing, but a flurry of reports of abusive text messages and other statements Carlson made during his time at Fox has since piled up.
Since leaving Fox, Carlson started a “Tucker on Twitter” series – arguing that Twitter was “the only” major platform left that allows for free speech, while denouncing the news media. The series, which has published two episodes so far, looks set to escalate contract tensions between Carlson and Fox.
Fox has demanded Carlson stop posting videos to Twitter, The New York Times also reported Monday — as the network’s lawyers accuse Carlson of violating his contract, which runs until early 2025 and restricts him from performing on other media to appear. Meanwhile, Carlson’s lawyers have said the network was the first to breach the contract.
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A spokesperson for Fox News Media and attorneys representing Carlson, Bryan Freedman and Harmeet Dhillon did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press Tuesday.
“Fox doubles down on the most catastrophic programming decision in cable news industry history and is now demanding that Tucker Carlson remain silent until after the 2024 election,” Dhillon said in a statement to Axios and the Times. “Tucker will not be silenced by anyone.”
Before being fired in April, Carlson was Fox’s highest-rated host. His stew of grievances and political theories became defining for the network in recent years, making him an influential and highly controversial force in GOP politics.
Carlson has previously come under fire for defending a white supremacist theory that claims white people are being “replaced” by people of color, and for spreading misinformation on issues ranging from the January 6 attack on the Capitol to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
