March 28, 2024

Elon Musk on Tuesday said he had not signed a deal with Tucker Carlson, hours after the fired Fox News host revealed he is relaunching his show on Twitter.

The ousted television host made the announcement in a three-minute video posted to his Twitter page on Tuesday, in which he slammed the mainstream media and said anyone who tries to tell the truth ‘will be fired.’

Sources close to Carlson have previously said he is preparing for ‘war’ against the network as he fights to be released from his $25 million-a-year contract, which prevented him from joining rival networks or starting one of his own.

‘The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can, but there are always limits,’ Carlson told his fans. 

‘If you bump up against those limits often enough you will be fired for it. That’s not a guess, it’s guaranteed.’

He posted the video along with a tweet saying: ‘We’re back.’

Musk, who bought Twitter in October, said he had not signed a deal with Carlson, and the host would generate his own revenue from advertising.

In a three-minute long video posted to his Twitter, Tucker Carlson announced he is ‘relaunching his show’ on the social media site

It was previously reported that Carlson had a sit-down meeting with Twitter CEO Elon Musk (pictured over the weekend). Musk on Tuesday said they had not formed any special arrangement, and Carlson would make money through advertising, like any other streamer

The announcement comes just days after it was revealed that Carlson had a conversation with Twitter chief Elon Musk about working together.

But Musk on Tuesday denied any special agreement had been reached with Carlson. 

‘I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators,’ Musk tweeted, in response to Carlson’s video.

‘Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (still working on software needed for latter), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with his content.’

Musk added that he would like others to follow Carlson’s lead. 

‘I hope that many others, particularly from the left, also choose to be content creators on this platform,’ Musk said.

When alt-right political commentator Jack Posobiec said Musk should bring back Twitter streaming – their equivalent of Facebook or Instagram Live, which ran on the app Periscope and was discontinued in March 2021 – Musk said it was coming back.

Carlson’s announcement ends two weeks of speculation as to his next move, with media analysts closely watching what he would do with his army of followers.

On Tuesday, Carlson’s lawyers sent an aggressive letter to Fox executives accusing them of fraud and breach of contract.

The letter, obtained by Axios, argues that Carlson should not be bound by the non-compete clause.

His contract runs until January 2025 – after the election – and Fox wants to keep paying him, which would prevent him from starting a competing show. 

The letter was sent by Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, to Fox officials Viet Dinh, the company’s chief legal officer, and Irena Briganti, the head of corporate communications.

It claimed that Fox employees, including ‘Rupert Murdoch himself,’ broke promises to Carlson ‘intentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth,’ Axios reported.

The lawyers reportedly accuse Fox executives, believed to be Dinh and Murdoch, of making ‘material representations’ to Carlson that were intentionally broken, constituting fraud.

The letter claims that Fox broke a promise not to leak Carlson’s private messages.

The letter also alleges Fox broke promises not to settle with Dominion Voting Systems ‘in a way which would indicate wrongdoing’ on the part of Carlson, and backtracked on a deal not to do anything in a settlement that would harm Carlson’s reputation.

The letter states: ‘These actions not only breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the Agreement, but give rise to claims for breach of contract, and intentional and negligent misrepresentation.’

Carlson claims in the letter that Briganti attempted to ‘undermine, embarrass, and interfere’ with Carlson’s future business prospects, which he maintains would constitute another breach of his employment contract.

‘Make no mistake, we intend to subpoena Ms. Briganti’s cell phone records and related documents, which evidence communications with her and all media, including, but not limited to The New York Times,’ the letter said.

They also indicated legal action would soon be filed.

Fox News must take immediate steps ‘to preserve all existing documents and data’ relevant to Fox’s relationship with Carlson, including correspondence between top executives and several media outlets.

A Fox News spokesperson said it is ‘categorically false’ that Carlson lost his job as part of the network’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

Stephen Shackelford, an outside attorney for Dominion, told Axios’ Dan Primack: ‘Dominion did not insist on them firing Tucker Carlson as part of the settlement.’

Axios reports Carlson cannot join a rival news organization or start one of his own under his $25-million-a-year contract with Fox, which expires in January 2025 (pictured Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News, with his sons James and Lachlan in 2016)

Following Carlson’s dismissal from Fox, its ratings have slumped as fans of the firebrand presenter left the network in droves

In his video on Tuesday, Carlson hit out at the mainstream media — and took aim at his former employer for his sudden firing last month.

‘You often hear people say the news is full of lies, but most of the time that’s not exactly right,’ he begins. 

‘Most of what you see on television or read in the New York Times is true in the literal sense.

‘But that doesn’t make it true,’ he said. 

‘At the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie — a lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind.’

Carlson said that the mainstream media is misleading people ‘in every story that matters, every day of the week, every week of the year,’ and said that after more than 30 years in the news industry he ‘can tell you stories.’

‘The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can, but there are always limits,’ he said. 

‘If you bump up against those limits often enough you will be fired for it. That’s not a guess, it’s guaranteed,’ he said in a thinly-veiled reference to his sudden ouster.

He then continued to say that the system is ‘filthy’ and ‘utterly corrupt.’

‘You can’t have a free society if people aren’t allowed to say what they think is true,’ Carlson said. 

‘Speech is the fundamental prerequisite for democracy.

‘Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech,’ he continued. 

‘The last big one remaining in the world, the only one, is Twitter, where we are now.

‘Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops,’ he said. 

‘Twitter is not a partisan site, everyone is allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing.’

Carlson said that he wanted to escape the ‘lies’ of the mainstream media

But, he said, the media ‘gatekeepers are still in charge,’ and he hopes to change that.

‘Starting soon, we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six-and-a-half years to Twitter,’ Carlson finally announced, vowing that more information will be forthcoming. 

Sources close to Carlson also said he was considering building a direct-to-consumer media outlet, where his millions of fans could pay to watch him, and was being recruited by networks like Rumble and Newsmax.

It also comes as Carlson is said to be fighting his contract with Fox News, under which he agreed to a $25 million noncompete clause. 

His attorney told Axios over the weekend: ‘The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.’

Friends and sources close with the former Fox News host added that his allies at rival platforms were preparing to attack the network.

‘They’re coming to him and saying, ‘Do you want me to hit Fox?” an unidentified close friend of Carlson’s told the outlet. 

‘He’s been saying, ‘No I want to get this done quiet and clean.’

‘Now, we’re going from peace time to Defcon 1,’ the friend said, explaining: ‘His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom.’

Another source close to Carlson added that Carlson ‘knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and is ready to start drawing a map.’ 

The shocking decision to fire Carlson on April 19 came just six days after Fox settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.

Since then, a slew of rumors pertaining to his dismissal have emerged. They span from claims over Carlson’s texts that emerged in the wake of the lawsuit, including some in which he claimed he hated Trump.

There were also rumors Carlson may have been fired over a gender discrimination suit filed by a former female booker on his show. 

It has also since emerged that Carlson sent an incendiary text message the day after the January 6 storming of the Capitol – which the board of Fox News learnt about on the eve of their defamation trial.

But following his dismissal from Fox News, their ratings have slumped as fans of the firebrand presenter left the network in droves.

Still, Fox News Channel is not expected to change its ‘successful’ programming.

‘There’s no change to our programming strategy at Fox News,’ CEO Lachlan Murdoch reportedly told analysts on Tuesday.

‘It’s obviously a successful strategy, and as always, we are adjusting our programming and our lineup, and that’s what we continue to do.’