Fox News, Tucker Carlson part ways after channel settles Dominion lawsuit

While Tucker Carlson left Fox News, CNN fired longtime host Don Lemon after divisive morning show run

Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways, the American media company said in a statement on Monday, less than a week after Fox News and parent company Fox Corp settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.

The settlement averted a trial putting one of the world's top media companies in the crosshairs over its coverage of false vote-rigging claims in the 2020 U.S. election.

Mr. Carlson had been expected to testify in the Dominion trial. Dominion had alleged that statements made on Mr. Carlson’s show after the 2020 election were defamatory and that messages between Mr. Carlson and his team were proof that he and his team knew the falsehood of claims that Denver-based Dominion's ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the election in favour of Democrat Joe Biden.

Mr. Carlson’s last program was April 21, the company said in a statement. It said that Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 p.m. EST starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.

Meanwhile, CNN fired longtime host Don Lemon following his short and disastrous run as a morning show host, a little over two months after he apologised for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being past her prime.

The move quickly turned nasty.

While CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced, after Lemon had co-hosted the show Monday, that they had “parted ways,” Mr. Lemon characterised it as a firing and said it was surprise to him.