(NewsReady.com) – In April, Fox News and one of its most popular personalities, Tucker Carlson, suddenly parted ways. Now Carlson has launched his own show through Twitter. Fox doesn’t want him to do that, and it’s prepared to use the law to stop him. The network has now issued a legal threat to its former host, but Carlson is pushing back.
On April 24, Carlson’s 14-year career at Fox News came to an abrupt end when the network dismissed him and canceled his popular show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Although neither side gave a reason, it’s believed Fox fired Carlson for being critical of the network’s management. His firing also came shortly after the network settled a $787 million lawsuit with Dominion Voting. In early May, Carlson accused Fox of breach of contract and said he planned to launch a new version of his show through Twitter. The problem is that although the network dismissed him, his contract runs until January 2025 — and it commits him to working exclusively for Fox until then.
In May, Carlson claimed Fox broke the contract first by leaking his private messages to the media. He went on to agree to a new show with Twitter owner Elon Musk and on June 6, broadcast the first episode of “Tucker on Twitter.”
As soon as the show went out, Fox’s lawyers swung into action. General counsel Bernard Gugar immediately wrote to Carlson’s legal team, complaining about the video — which quickly picked up more than 110 million views — and quoting the exclusivity clause of his contract. Carlson’s lawyers quickly hit back, though. Attorney Bryan Freedman told journalists any legal action by Fox would violate Carlson’s First Amendment rights. He slammed the network for hypocrisy, saying it “defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds” but is now trying to silence a former host.
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