An explosive report detailed how the nasty divorce between Fox News and former star host Tucker Carlson has gotten worse. According to Axios, the network sent the former mouthpiece a letter telling him that he is in breach of his contract.
This, of course, paves the way for a possible lawsuit. Meanwhile, Carlson said his new Twitter production is simply his way of expressing his First Amendment-protected rights.
Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freeman, told the outlet in a statement that Fox is a defender of free speech. Now, however, “they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events.”
The network, of course, feels otherwise.
Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar followed the Twitter posting of Carlson’s first episode with a letter to the former primetime host’s lawyers. “In connection with such breach and pursuant to the Agreement, Fox expressly reserves all rights to it which are available to it at law or equity.”
Fox News warns Tucker Carlson he’s in breach of his contract, suggests lawsuit https://t.co/jZDYwzk6q3 pic.twitter.com/4COX2bTMhK
— ✟ Right Scoop ✟ (@trscoop) June 7, 2023
The letter referred to Carlson’s contract that he first signed in 2019 before it was amended two years later.
It said that the network was “made aware of Mr. Tucker Carlson’s appearance on Twitter in a video that lasted over 10 minutes.” The letter continued by asserting that, “pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Mr. Carlson’s services shall be completely exclusive to Fox.”
The letter further declared that the former host by contract is not allowed to give any services “of any type whatsoever.” This included “over the internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.”
Axios reported that Carlson accused the conservative network of fraud and breaching his contract by reneging on promises. They also said that Fox broke its pledge to the host to not settle the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit in a way that “would indicate wrongdoing” on his part.
The outlet previously said that a Fox board member revealed to Carlson that he was yanked off the air as part of the agreement with Dominion.
Carlson’s legal team believes that he is in the clear to appear on Twitter since, in their view, the social media platform is not in direct competition with Fox.
Axios also reported that a senior Fox executive revealed to Carlson the network’s desire to keep him off the airwaves until 2025.
