Fox News Sends Tucker Carlson Cease-and-Desist Over Twitter Show: Report

Ryan Bort
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Fox News is escalating its effort to prevent Tucker Carlson from hosting a new show on Twitter, with Axios reporting on Monday that the network has sent its former star host a cease-and-desist letter.

The letter comes a week after Fox sent Carlson a letter informing him that his new show, Tucker on Twitter, violates his contract with the network. The two parted ways in April, but Carlson is still collecting checks, with his contract running through the end of 2024. “In connection with such breach and pursuant to the Agreement, Fox expressly reserves all rights and remedies which are available to it at law or equity,” the letter read.

Carlson’s lawyers have argued that his new show is protected by the First Amendment. “Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds. Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events,” Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Carlson, told Axios last week.

Freedman and Harmeet Dhillon, another lawyer for Carlson, responded to the cease-and-desist letter by emphasizing that Carlson “will not be silenced by anyone,” describing Fox’s decision to push him out “the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry,” according to Axios.

Dhillon also sounded off on Twitter, questioning whether conservatives should appear on Fox when the network “spits on its viewers, leaks oppo on its own talent, and even threatens former talent for speaking, for free, on Twitter.”

Carlson announced in early May that he would be partnering with Twitter for his next venture, which he described as “a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years.” Tucker on Twitter debuted last week in the form of a straight-to-camera monologue. Axios notes that Carlson is planning on expanding the show and that his team has already lined up some guests. He’s expected to address Donald Trump’s recent indictment on Tuesday night. Carlson has also reportedly been talking with Trump about hosting a Republican primary debate. Regardless, Carlson has made it clear he’s not going to sit around twiddling his thumbs ahead of the election while waiting for his Fox contract to expire.

A source told Axios last week that they believe Fox is working in good faith to reach an agreement with its former star, but as of now the two sides clearly aren’t very happy with each other.

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