“How White Men Fight”, “Yummy”, “Slave To Fox Nation”: How Tucker Carlson Got Himself Fired (And Got A $100-Million Valuetainment Offer)
It was relatively an uneventful week last week, unless you’re former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson. The ex-host of the eponymous nightly show on the network was unceremoniously fired by the company he worked for since 2009.
In a statement, the company stated that “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
The decision that Carlson won’t be returning to his show on Monday was so abrupt, even the host seemingly wasn’t aware. He ended his Friday night broadcast with: “We will be back on Monday.”
The conservative host’s sudden departure from Fox News comes after the media company settled a lawsuit put forth by Dominion Voting Systems, costing Fox $787.5 million in what appears to be one of the highest in U.S. defamation case history.
In the discovery phase of the lawsuit, it was revealed top Fox anchors and executives had repeatedly denounced the election fraud claims involving Dominion machines internally through private chats despite pushing otherwise on-air with their selected pundits, so as not to anger the “base.”
Carlson himself said in a text message after the 2020 election that he “passionately hated” former US President Donald Trump, according to court filings.
“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” he wrote in a text sent on 4 January 2021. “I truly can’t wait.”
People familiar with Carlson’s firing told The Los Angeles Times that Rupert Murdoch made the decision to fire Carlson, in part because of the host’s conspiracy theories about the 2021 Capitol riots, which he frequently aired on his show.
“It’s not how white men fight”
Fox News did not provide an official reason on Carlson’s departure in its statement, nor did the host explain particularly what got him laid off from his home network of 14 years in his recent resurfacing on Twitter.
But now, leaked texts and videos add color to what might have been the reason that pushed Fox management to axe one of its top anchors.
In a leaked text message from the resolved Dominion defamation case, Carlson describes a video of a brutal assault on a “Antifa kid” by a “group of Trump guys,” noting that “it’s not how white men fight.”
The text, obtained by The New York Times through conversations with people familiar with the case, is still censored from public court filings in Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which was settled last month for a record $787.5 million.
According to the Times, Carlson sent the text to one of his producers the day after the Capitol disturbance on January 6, 2021.
“Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight. Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it,” the text said, according to the Times.
“Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed,” Carlson continued. “If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?”
Carlson’s show for years championed views that bolstered white nationalism’s worldview. However, the text message revealed more about his attitudes toward racial superiority.
The communication upset the Fox board, which received it a day before Fox was scheduled to defend itself against Dominion Voting Systems in front of a jury. The board became afraid that the communication would become public during Carlson’s testimony at trial, generating a sensational and embarrassing moment that would raise larger issues about the corporation.
“Yummy” and “Post-menopausal”
Carlson was shown in a leaked tape on Tuesday complimenting an unknown woman as “yummy,” referring to his supporters as “post-menopausal,” and attempting to talk sexual technique with British journalist Piers Morgan prior to their interview.
“If we’re going to talk about sex, I’d love to hit some of the fine points of technique, but, you know, but it’s your show. It’s totally up to you,” Carlson tells Morgan.
The video leaked was released by Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog.
In one video, Carlson tells someone off-camera: “You wouldn’t. OK? I’m not … qualified on that score. I will say, I thought his girlfriend was kind of yummy.”
He also says he was “just kidding, in case this is being pulled off the bird,” meaning from a satellite, adding: “Hey, Media Matters for America, go fuck yourself.”
“I don’t even know what his girlfriend looks like. And if I did, I would not find her yummy,” Carlson added.
In a second clip, Carlson says: “I can never assess my appearance. I wait for my postmenopausal fans to weigh in on that.”
According to a source close to Carlson, harsh language and statements regarding CEOs were not the cause for his dismissal.
“An elderly Australian man fired his top anchor with no warning because he was so offended by a dirty word? Stupidest explanation ever. Please. A big decision requires a powerful motive. Naughty words in text messages don’t qualify,” the source said.
“I don’t want to be a slave to Fox Nation”
Before he was dismissed, Carlson reportedly stated in a leaked video revealed on Monday that the Fox Nation streaming service for which he produced programming “sucks.”
The video, also leaked to Media Matters for America, Carlson talked about his conversation with controversial rightwing social media star Andrew Tate.
“I don’t want to be a slave to Fox Nation, which I don’t think that people watch anyway,” Carlson said.
Carlson stated, when asked what he would dress for the interview: “I want it to look official. I don’t want it to be like bro talk … But nobody’s going to watch it on Fox Nation. Nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks. So I’d really like to just … dump the whole thing on YouTube.”
“But anyway, that’s just my view. OK. I’m just frustrated with it. It’s hard to use that site. I don’t know why they’re not fixing it. It’s driving me insane. And they’re like making, like, Lifetime movies but they don’t … work on the infrastructure of the site.”
“Like what? It’s crazy. And it drives me crazy because it’s like we’re doing all this extra work and no one can find it. It’s unbelievable, actually.”
Carlson’s Fox Nation content included Patriot Purge, a conspiracy-laced documentary series on Trump supporters’ deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol, and The End of Men, which included a discussion of testicular tanning.
“We’re like working like animals to produce all this content, and the people in charge of [Fox Nation] … like, they’re ignoring the fact that the site doesn’t work. And I think it’s like a betrayal of our efforts. That’s how I feel. So I, of course, I resent it,” Carlson said in the video.
$100-million offer from Valuetainment
But like as always in American media, wherever you land on the spectrum, you get an audience. Patrick Bet-David, Founder and CEO of Valuetainment, publicly announced his offer for Carlson to join his content company yesterday.
“Our convictions about freedom, liberty, and truth run deep and we believe we are the absolute right fit for you and America,” Bet-David said in a public letter to Carlson. “While we may not be the biggest media company, we are a new media leader driving into the future to make truth, fair debate, and commentary more accessible, consumable, and protected.”
The offer includes $100 million over a five-year contract and to be installed as the president of Valuetainment and an equity stake in the company. This is on top of Carlson’s own shows and content he’d like to produce.
The media organization boasts that its YouTube channel has over 4 million subscribers, and that its Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter followers total more than 10 million.
The offer was first announced by Bet-David as a guest on The Megyn Kelly Show.
“I believe Tucker’s voice is one of the most necessary voices in America… At a place he is right now, we have a feeling of what would be important to somebody like that… we know the world needs to hear that voice,” Bet-David said.
It isn’t clear if Carlson had received the offer before Bet-David announced it and the conservative host has yet to reply.
As rumors circulate on the reason of Carlson’s departure, Valuetainment’s Twitter account retweeted a clip of an interview with the former Fox host in the Youtube platform Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris. In it, Carlson said that if a TV host asks questions like “whatever happened to Building 7,” that person could “lose [their] job.”
Building 7 was a 47-story skyscraper that collapsed in the afternoon, several hours after the Twin Towers collapsed in September 11, 2001–more known as 9/11. However, the collapse of Building 7 has been the subject of controversy and conspiracy theories, with some people questioning the official explanation and suggesting that controlled demolition may have been involved.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) conducted an investigation into the collapse of Building 7 and concluded that the collapse was caused by a combination of factors, including fires and the failure of structural elements due to thermal expansion. The findings of the investigation have been criticized by some who remain skeptical of the official explanation.
It seems Carlson’s just asking questions. If it lands him on an online content platform from one of the top cable news channels in America, that could be “yummy”.
Information for this story was found via The New York Times, The Hill, The Guardian, Insider, Media Matters for America, and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
