Following his dismissal from Fox News, Tucker Carlson began his own show on Twitter. But that did not bode well for Fox News as they contemplate suing for being in breach of his contract, according to The Daily Wire. Before taking it to court, however, Fox News has issued the popular host a cease-and-desist letter.
Tucker was one of the most popular hosts on cable news television, garnering around two million views per episode. He also did well with the 15-54 age demographic, according to American Pigeon. Nevertheless, Fox News decided to let him go. The move came after a $787.5 million settlement between Fox and Dominion Voting Systems after Dominion alleged that the network pushed out misinformation regarding the 2020 election.
After posting his first 10-minute video to Twitter, Fox News pounced on their former employee and threatened him to stop. Tucker amassed around 115 million views and his second video garnered 55 million. Rather than allow him to continue to post, the network wants to pay him $20 million a year for his silence until the contract expires in 2025.
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer representing Tucker, says that the former host is allowed to post to Twitter because he is protected by the First Amendment. He added that Fox News is behaving contradictorily after supporting free speech but then trying to take it away. Tucker is also reportedly arguing that Fox News committed material breaches of their contract and committed fraud.
Harmeet Dhillon, another lawyer beside Freedman, stated that the network is ignoring its audience and its shareholders by “doubling down on the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry.” The lawyers are noting that the contract could not have been breached because Twitter is not a direct competitor of Fox News.
