Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was “not impressed” when Fox News lawyers persuaded the court overseeing the Dominion defamation trial to redact his use of the “c-word” towards a senior Fox News executive from a legal filing.
Carlson was fired from the cable news network Monday morning in a surprise move that caught nearly everyone that covers political media off guard. The vacuum of information behind the ouster led to baseless speculation, but now more details are beginning to emerge.
It turns out that Carlson frequently used the “c-word” to describe women he did not care for. Emails and texts, found in discovery, revealed that he referred to lead election denier Sidney Powell in this manner. Former booker Abby Grossberg — now suing the networks — has made similar allegations that the word was “bandied about” at Tucker Carlson Tonight offices.
Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Keach Hagey, Joe Flint, and Isabella Simonetti report:
Several weeks ago, as Fox News lawyers prepared for a courtroom showdown with Dominion Voting Systems, they presented Tucker Carlson with what they thought was good news: They had persuaded the court to redact from a legal filing the time he called a senior Fox News executive the c-word, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Carlson, Fox News’s most-watched prime-time host, wasn’t impressed. He told his colleagues that he wanted the world to know what he had said about the executive in a private message, the people said. Mr. Carlson said comments he made about former President Donald Trump—“I hate him passionately”—that were in the court documents were said during a momentary spasm of anger, while his dislike of this executive was deep and enduring.
To be clear, according to the reporting of a Murdoch-owned outlet, Carlson was unhappy that his use of the c-word against a senior executive was redacted from court filings, even though he had told Dominion lawyers he was deeply “embarrassed” those words had come to light.
Carlson hosted the highest-rated prime-time program on the top-rated cable news network and played a significant role in original programming for the subscription-based streaming platform Fox Nation. That said, multiple reports have surfaced that Carlson’s popularity at the network had waned significantly, with colleagues weary of his conspiracy theories, pro-Putin commentary, and not-so-subtle racist allegations.
Carlson had battled with the Fox News communications team, and many within the network believed there was a power struggle between Carlson — who acted like he could do or say whatever on the network with impunity — and Fox CEO Suzanne Scott.
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