Ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he “honestly” doesn’t know why his former network “fired” him in April.
Carlson, who is eight episodes deep into his roughly one-month-old Twitter show, weighed in on his abrupt exit from Fox as he spoke with actor and podcast host Russell Brand.
Carlson, who acknowledged his past departures from major news networks, said he was surprised and didn’t expect to be let go from Fox News earlier this year.
“So I was shocked but I wasn’t really shocked. And I wasn’t mad. It’s not my company and when you work for someone else, that person reserves the right and in fact has inherently the right to decide whether you work there or not,” Carlson said.
“I don’t know why I was fired, I really don’t. I’m not angry about it. You can believe me or not, but I think you can feel that I’m not.”
Carlson, who added that he wishes Fox well, took aim at The New York Times after it detailed a “white men fight” text message he reportedly sent to one of his producers – a text that allegedly “set off a panic” among higher-ups at Fox.
“There was, you know, ugly leaking, ‘I’m a racist’ or whatever – they leaked, someone there leaked, to The New York Times,” Carlson told Brand.
“But that’s not true, and I think the people who run the company know that’s not true. Actually, don’t think they did it. And I’m not mad about it. And I’ve been happy.”
HuffPost has reached out to Fox regarding Carlson’s remarks.
Carlson’s comments arrive less than a month after his former network reportedly sent him a “cease and desist” letter regarding his new Twitter show, which Fox claims violates a contract with him that allegedly expires in 2025.
The network has since laid off several of Carlson’s former staffers and named Jesse Watters as the personality set to permanently replace the former host’s prime-time slot later this month.
