Biggest FOX News, CNN Anchors Out 

FOX News’ Tucker Carlson and CNN’s Don Lemon will no longer hold their anchor positions with their respective companies, both networks announced today.

After setting a lawsuit over their 2020 elections reporting that resulted in the most significant media buyout to date, FOX News announced that Tucker Carlson, the infamous host of one of the network’s highest-rated shows, has parted ways with them.

A statement released by FOX News confirmed that Carlson’s last time filming the Tucker Carlson Tonight show was on April 21. On April 18, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting System  $787.5 million. Dominion is an election technology company that sued the network for spreading election conspiracies.

“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” the statement read.

The statement also confirms that the 8 p.m. slot will be filled with rotating FOX News personalities. It does not, however, offer a reason for the departure, though it is affirmed that it was a mutual departure.

Carlson is a conservative political commentator who became notorious for platforming election denial. He joined FOX News in 2009 as a contributor, but in 2016, the year of Donald Trump’s election became the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight.

In February, the 8 p.m. show trailed the network’s 5 p.m. show, The Five, with an average of 3.303 million viewers, according to AdWeek. Before that, it was the highest-rated show in all cable news. 

Don Lemon let go from CNN today, the network announced, after filming his show, CNN This Morning. Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP.

Just moments after FOX News’ statement, CNN announced Lemon’s departure. However, a tweet from Lemon suggests that this departure was not mutual, as Lemon co-anchored today’s morning show as usual. 

“At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved to do at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play,” Lemon’s statement read. 

CNN followed up and confirmed the lack of accuracy in Lemon’s statement through a tweet.

“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter,” the tweet read.

Prior to this, the media outlet’s communications team tweeted, “CNN and Don have parted ways. Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

CNN This Morning, though, was not performing as well. AP News reported that CNN saw a 61 percent decline in primetime viewership in March. Some believe comments Lemon made in February were perceived as sexist and ageist, and were the cause for the poor ratings and his departure.