A racist text message allegedly sent by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson set off alarm bells at the top of the network and ultimately contributed to his firing. The text, which remains redacted in court filings in Dominion Voter Systems’ defamation case against Fox News, included the line: “It’s not how white men fight.” The message allegedly shows Carlson describing how he saw a group of Trump supporters beat up an “Antifa kid”. Carlson was fired last week, in the aftermath of the $787.5m settlement of the Dominion case, brought over the broadcast of Donald Trump’s election fraud lies.
Fox News and Tucker Carlson have parted ways less than a week after the media company settled a defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million in which Carlson played a starring role. The lawsuit was filed by Dominion, which alleged that Carlson allowed debunked election-fraud claims about the voting-technology firm to air on his show. Carlson's next move and the reason for his departure are unclear. Fox News will air an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.
Fox News has cut ties with its top-rated prime-time host Tucker Carlson, less than a week after the network settled a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. Carlson's private messages were among hundreds of internal communications made public in the course of the lawsuit that caused angst and embarrassment for Fox. Carlson's comments about Fox management, as revealed in the Dominion case, played a role in his departure from Fox. Fox said that the 8 p.m. time slot, which Carlson has held since April 2017, will be filled on an interim basis by "rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named."
Despite a $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over election lies, Fox News has continued to serve viewers a largely imagined, and utterly terrifying, version of the US. The conservative TV channel's outspoken hosts have not toned down the misinformation, but instead have focused on Hunter Biden, "racial violence", and "transgenderists". Fox News has largely ignored the Dominion lawsuit and got back to basics, with Tucker Carlson churning out the usual hits on his 8pm show.
Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation, dropped his defamation suit against Australian publisher Private Media, which owns news website Crikey, two days after his company settled a libel suit against them. Murdoch sued Private Media in August over an opinion piece published by Crikey that linked the Murdoch family to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Murdoch's lawyer said Crikey intended to exploit the outcome of the Fox-Dominion defamation case in the U.S. The Dominion case was settled on Tuesday for $787.5 million just as a trial was about to begin.
The government has limited power to regulate lies on cable news due to the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech and press. The Federal Communications Commission only regulates licensed, local broadcast outlets that transmit through the airwaves, not cable networks. While lawmakers are exploring options, including holding hearings and seeing if there's more latitude that can be given to regulatory agencies, it's unlikely that much can be done. The biggest perceived threat to truth has been from social media and the Internet, leading some lawmakers to propose a new federal watchdog, the Digital Platform Commission, to try and regulate truth online.
