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Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is preparing to “torch” his soon-to-be former employer and is apparently enlisting allies to help, according to an exclusive report on Sunday from Axios.
“Carlson is preparing to unleash allies to attack Fox News in an effort to bully the network into letting him work for — or start — a right-wing rival, sources close to him” told the outlet.
Axios added that the high-powered Hollywood lawyer that Carlson hired to represent him after Fox News took him off the air told the outlet: “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.”
The report added:
Tucker vs. Fox could reshape the conservative news world. Fox, which has seen its ratings plunge in Carlson’s slot since he was let go 13 days ago, wants to sideline him by paying him $20 million a year not to work.
Axios has learned Carlson is busy plotting a media empire of his own. But he needs Fox to let him out of his contract, which expires in January 2025 — after the presidential election.
Axios — and others — reported that Carlson has already been contacted by multiple outlets, including the Rumble streaming platform, Newsmax TV, and Valuetainment, and have offered to pay him more per year than Fox is shelling out.
In addition, “Axios has learned that Carlson and Elon Musk had a conversation about working together, but didn’t discuss specifics.”
According to sources close to him, Carlson is reportedly considering the possibility of creating his own direct-to-consumer media platform, where his large fan base could pay to watch him. The model was previously used by Carlson’s predecessor on Fox News, Bill O’Reilly, who is currently hosting a show during Carlson’s old timeslot for The First TV, which recently became available on DirecTV.
Not long after he was taken off the air, Carlson posted a short video to Twitter that has since racked up more than 80 million views,
during which he teased: “See you soon.”
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
But according to a source close to Carlson, the ousted host is preparing to take aim at Fox News because he “knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and is ready to start drawing a map.” The source added that allies with large platforms are preparing to launch attacks at Fox for keeping Carlson tied down.
“They’re coming to him and saying: ‘Do you want me to hit Fox?’ ” a close Carlson friend told Axios. “He’s been saying: ‘No. I want to get this done quiet and clean.'”
But, “Now, we’re going from peacetime to Defcon 1,” the friend noted further to Axios. “His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom.”
The ramp-up in pressure and reported conversation with Musk come after a series of leaks that likely were done to embarrass Carlson have occurred.
Former Fox News star and current SiriusXM podcast host Megyn Kelly believes her former employer is attempting to sabotage Carlson, and what’s more, she thinks she knows who’s behind it.
She made her remarks on her program last week after a video clip of Carlson appearing to trash Fox’s streaming service, Fox Nation, during a phone call with a potential guest. The clip was leaked to Media Matters for America, a far-left site.
Carlson remarked that “nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks,” adding, “I’m just frustrated with it. It’s hard to use that site. I don’t know why they’re not fixing it. It’s driving me insane.”
Another clip that put Carlson in a bad light was leaked to the liberal-leaning New York Times.
Kelly suggested that Irena Briganti, Fox’s senior executive vice president for corporate communications, was behind the leaks.
In addition, Kelly said in a tweet that Carlson should “walk away” from his contract with Fox News and let them “take him to court.”
“See how their dwindling audience repays them for that,” she added.
