Topline
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson vehemently denied Friday that he’s working with Russian state television to broadcast his new online program, reportedly calling the assertion “bulls**t,” after one Russian state outlet ran promos for Carlson’s show, and two more reached out to him after his recent Fox ouster.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson denied speculation that he will host a show on a Russian state … [+]
Key Facts
Earlier this week, an ad for a dubbed “Tucker” TV show on state-owned Rossiya 24 appeared with the tagline “at the weekend,” according to a translation by the BBC’s Francis Scarr.
Carlson denied agreeing to host a show on Russian TV when asked about the advertisement by Financial Times Moscow bureau chief Max Seddon on Friday, calling the idea “absurd” and “more Russia-related bulls**t,” adding that “there’s so much I can’t keep up,” Seddon tweeted.
Carlson’s representative, Arthur Schwartz, called the show “fake news” in a statement to Forbes, saying Carlson “knows nothing about this.”
What We Don’t Know
If—or when—Rossiya 24 will air the show in Russia. While its advertisement seemed to indicate the show would appear on the weekends, it offered no other details on the show, or whether it would simply re-air Carlson’s show on X.
Surprising Fact
Carlson, who relaunched his show on X, formerly known as Twitter, in the aftermath of his high-profile falling-out with the right-wing cable network, was contacted in April by Russian state outlet RT, formerly known as Russian Today, which tweeted at Carlson: “you can always question more with” RT. A second Russian state-run media outlet, Channel One, also reached out to Carlson on his Telegram channel in April, with a more blatant message, urging Carlson to “come join us,” adding: “You don’t have to be afraid of taking the piss out of Biden here.” Carlson, who has questioned U.S. military support to Ukraine and speculated the U.S. took part in the explosion of the Nord Stream pipeline that feeds Russian natural gas to Europe, has in the past month also reportedly appeared in a TV promo on Russian state channel Rossiya 24.
Key Background
After 14 years with Fox News, Carlson was abruptly booted by the network in April, with Fox saying the two “agreed to part ways” even after Carlson ended his final Friday show saying he would “be back Monday.” Though it was initially unclear why Fox parted ways with Carlson, the Washington Post reported it followed angry comments Carlson made about network management during Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit, which Fox settled that same month for $787.5 million. Court documents from that suit also revealed Carlson, who brought on guests who peddled former President Donald Trump’s baseless election fraud theories, privately doubted those theories, while then company chair Rupert Murdoch lamented that the network didn’t take a harder stance on those baseless theories. In July, Carlson formed a new media company after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Fox News, which claimed his new show on Twitter, now known as X, violated his contract with Fox, which had reportedly still been paying Carlson even after it let him go.
Tangent
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson vehemently denied Friday that he’s working with Russian state television to broadcast his new online program, reportedly calling the assertion “bulls**t.”
Further Reading
Tucker Carlson Reportedly Forming New Media Company (Forbes)
Tucker Carlson Launches New Twitter Show Weeks After Fox News Ouster—And Talks Ukraine And UFOs (Forbes)
Fox Reportedly Sends Tucker Carlson Cease-And-Desist Letter Over Twitter Show (Forbes)
