Fox Sends Tucker Carlson Cease-and-Desist Letter

Improve the News Foundation -

Facts

  • Fox News has sent a "cease and desist" letter to Tucker Carlson following the former TV host's publication of a new, competing series on Twitter called "Tucker on Twitter."1
  • Carlson's first two episodes have currently reached 169M combined viewers, with a third episode expected on Tuesday. According to Axios, Fox has maintained that any content created will be exclusive to the network until the end of 2024.2
  • Fox had sent Carlson a letter last week stating that the new Twitter show was in breach of contract. However, attorney Bryan Freedman, who represents Carlson, has claimed that Fox has already breached the contract—making the non-compete clause invalid.3
  • Furthermore, in reaction to Fox's legal attempt to end Tucker's show, fellow Carlson lawyer Harmeet Dhillon told Axios that the host "will not be silenced by anyone," and that Fox was merely doubling down on the "most catastrophic programming decision" in the history of cable news.4
  • Carlson's lawyers have also affirmed that Twitter is not a competitor with Fox and that the former host holds a "fundamental" First Amendment right to give his opinions on social media.5
  • Carlson was taken off the air only days after Fox agreed to a $787M settlement deal with Dominion Voting Systems following allegations made surrounding former president Donald Trump's claims of voter fraud in 2020.6

Sources: 1Axios, 2Forbes, 3Deadline, 4Guardian, 5The Wrap, and 6The Hill.

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by The Post Millennial. Fox News is so desperate to stop truthful discussion about the most important issues facing the world that it not only fired its most popular host, bleeding millions of viewers, but now it is also resorting to dirty legal games to stop Tucker Carlson from speaking at all. Carlson obviously wasn't fired due to performance, as he was the most popular cable host in the nation. Rather he was fired because he spoke about the issues against the woke establishment, which is why Fox won't allow Tucker to speak, under any circumstances.
  • Left narrative, as provided by NPR Online News. For years, Tucker Carlson has promoted ideas of white supremacism and conspiratorial thinking — and if his ideas were too much for Fox they certainly should not be allowed on Twitter. Hate should not be platformed, and Twitter should follow the, albeit too late, example set by the cable company.