OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
James O’Keefe, who left Project Veritas and created the O’Keefe Media Group (OMG), shared an undercover video late on Monday night that offers some possible insight into the Fox News saga involving former host Tucker Carlson.
An undercover journalist with O’Keefe Media Group spoke with Fox News producer Sean Langille, who claimed that Carlson was ousted from the network as part of the settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion sued Fox for $1.6 billion over allegations the network defamed the company with claims about voting systems.
O’Keefe’s videos feature undercover journalists and figures who are unaware that they are being recorded and that their words could come back to haunt them.
Below is a partial transcript of one exchange with the Fox News producer:
O’KEEFE: OMG News has obtained incendiary footage of a Fox News producer talking about Tucker Carlson’s departure, the Dominion settlement, and the influence that advertisers … have over the embattled network.
FOX PRODUCER SEAN LANGILLE: They gave them [Dominion] money. They say it wasn’t part of it. But we’re learning that Tucker getting fired was part of that.
UNDERCOVER REPORTER: Tucker getting fired was part of the Dominion lawsuit? Well, so did Tucker leave, or did you guys part ways, or Tucker was ousted?
LANGILLE: Yeah, he was ousted. Well, he brought up things that cost the company a lot of money…That, that was part of it. He was going to go after this whole thing about January 6 was… It was an inside job. He went after this guy Ray Epps, he said he was an FBI agent on the inside…. And basically encouraged it. He was going to go on the air and refute what that guy said on 60 Minutes.
WATCH:
Fox News announced over the weekend who will host Carlson’s old 8 PM ET primetime slot this week.
A new report reveals that Will Cain, co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” will be taking over the time slot this week. The show is currently being called “Fox News Tonight” since Carlson was ousted from the network last month.
Rumors continue to swirl around who the network might choose to take over Carlson’s time slot.
Mediaite published a report titled, “Who Will Replace Tucker Carlson at Fox News? Here Are Mediaite’s Top Picks,” where staff members compiled a list of potential hosts who could take over Carlson’s coveted 8 PM time slot.
Mediaite suggested in its report that Fox News could simply move around Watters, Ingraham, or Hannity to give them the 8 PM time slot and test a new host in a later time slot. That way, a more seasoned host would simply take over Carlson’s time slot on the network.
In the event that Fox News keeps the primetime hosts in their current time slots, here are the top 6 names that Mediaite suggested could take over Carlson’s show:
Greg Gutfeld — who hosts “The Five” and his late-night comedy show “Gutfeld!”
Tulsi Gabbard — a former Democratic lawmaker and 2020 presidential candidate
Kayleigh McEnany — former press secretary in the Trump administration
Brian Kilmeade — a longtime host and figure at Fox News
Pete Hegseth — a co-host and contributor at Fox News
Jesse Watters — who hosts “The Five” and his own primetime show
Time will tell what Fox News decides to do, but news of Carlson’s firing ignited a firestorm on social media this week.
Carlson was reportedly “blindsided” on Monday when he received a phone call from CEO Suzanne Scott informing him that he had been fired.
The firing came as Carlson had been negotiating a new contract that would have reportedly kept him at the network through 2029, according to an Independent report.
Now, a former top Fox News host thinks he knows the reason why Carlson was let go.
During an interview with Chris Cuomo of News Nation, Bill O’Reilly — the former Fox News host who previously occupied the coveted primetime 8 PM time slot — argued that he believes Carlson was fired because the network is facing a slew of lawsuits related to the 2020 election.
Fox News just settled a lawsuit with Dominion and agreed to pay out a whopping $787 million. The network also has an ongoing lawsuit filed by former Fox News booker Abby Grossberg.
“Because the pending litigation was harpooned this morning. Carlson didn’t know. It just happened. And that’s the nature of television news, the most wicked industry in the United States of America,” O’Reilly said.
“Tucker Carlson took over from me. For the first three years, his ratings were soft. He lost about a million, maybe a little bit more of my audience, and then in 2020 he took a hard right turn,” O’Reilly said. “Carlson basically programmed for a very hard right audience and his numbers came up.”
