No Gabe, Religion Did Not Bring Down Tucker Carlson
“…TV dinners, I'm feelin' kinda rough
TV dinners, this one's kinda tough
I like the enchiladas and the teriyaki too
I even like the chicken if the sauce is not too blue…” - ZZ Top - “TV Dinners”
In a media world full of stupid and not well-thought-out takes, Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman wins the Kewpie Doll for his thoughts on the firing of Tucker Carlson from Fox (Not) News.
As you probably know by now if you live anywhere on this planet, Carlson was fired from Fox Monday morning because…Well, that’s the thing. We don’t exactly know why he was fired. The company isn’t saying much about it.
All Fox has said is that Carlson and the network “mutually agreed to part ways.” Which means, in plain English, “We fired his ass and there’s nothing he can say about it.”
Naturally, this lack of information has led the media to go into overdrive speculating, pontificating (and a bunch of other ‘ating’ words I can’t mention) about just what happened to poor “Tuckems,” as Joy Reid calls him.
There are a number of theories as to why he was fired, as Sherman correctly points out in his Vanity Fair article.
“In this information void, multiple theories about why Fox fired Carlson circulated in the media,” he writes. “It was fallout from the $787.5 million Dominion settlement; punishment for vulgar text messages published in Dominion court filings; or a consequence of former Fox producer Abby Grossberg’s lawsuit, which alleged Carlson oversaw a hostile work environment. (Fox News has vowed to ‘vigorously defend” the company against “Grossberg’s unmeritorious legal claims.’)”
But, no, none of these theories are correct, according to Gabe. Carlson was fired because he’s too religious and it freaked out Rupert Murdoch.
I kid you not.
Sherman actually wrote this. In a national magazine. With what I presume is a straight face.
“A new theory has emerged,” Sherman wrote. “According to [a] source, Fox Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch removed Carlson over remarks Carlson made during a speech at the Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary gala on Friday night. Carlson laced his speech with religious overtones that even Murdoch found too extreme, the source, who was briefed on Murdoch’s decision-making, said.”
So Carlson mentioning Jesus a few times in a speech is a bridge too far for Rupert Murdoch?
Let’s take a look at a few of Carlson’s past greatest hits, shall we?
He’s called the Iraqi people “primitive monkeys.”
He said that immigrants to this country make it “poorer and dirtier.”
He’s claimed White Supremacy is a hoax and doesn’t exist in the United States.
He says that climate change is not real.
He claimed that “transgenderism” is the most dangerous extremist movement in the country.
I could go on. After all, there’s about 16 years of material to pick from, spanning three major cable networks. Which, by the way, leads me to ask, why would Fox hire someone who has been fired from two major cable networks previously?
None of this freaks out Rupert Murdoch, according to Sherman. But he is greatly “unnerved by Carlson’s messianism.”
So, no, Gabe, forgive me if I call bullshit on your theory.
What I do think has unnerved Rupert Murdoch is having to pay nearly $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems for Fox lying on air about the company using its voting machines to rig the 2020 Presidential election. Carlson was one of the loudest voices on this issue at the network. And if there’s one thing billionaires hate it’s having to spend money on something that doesn’t fly, float in the water or drive fast.
I think Carlson’s firing was a combination of things. A confluence of bad news for Fox that needed a response that would make people stand up and take notice. The now settled lawsuit with Dominion played a big part in the decision, I think.
Carlson was slated to be one of the star witnesses at the trial. According to The Wall Street Journal, lawyers at Fox had successfully lobbied to have some of his more vulgar statements in text messages about a female Fox executive stricken from the transcript. (He allegedly called her a vulgar word that refers to a part of the female anatomy). But Carlson wanted it to stay in so the world would know that he is a total dick.
According to Rolling Stone magazine, Fox has a “secret dossier” of all the crappy stuff he’s said and done to Fox employees over the years, that they will not hesitate to use against him should he decide to go against the network as a result of his firing.
The magazine claims to have eight sources dishing the dirt on Carlson.
“The file includes internal complaints regarding workplace conduct, disparaging comments about management and colleagues, and allegations that the now-former prime-time host created a toxic work environment, three of the sources say,” Rolling Stone said about the network’s secret file on Carlson.
Basically, Carlson’s ratings went to his head. He thought being the highest rated host on cable made him bigger than the network and that he was untouchable.
Rupert Murdoch thought otherwise.
When it comes down to it, Rupert Murdoch owns the place. Everyone there works for him. Everyone is expendable. Even the company’s biggest star.
Murdoch did not want to face the embarrassment the Dominion trial would bring, so he settled. He did not want to explain why he allows his executives and on-air talent to create a toxic work environment for their underlings. He does not want anyone questioning his authority. Or second guessing his “wisdom.”
Rupert Murdoch is the king of Fox (Not) News.
And as we all know, in the immortal words of the great Mel Brooks, “It’s good to be king.”
(By the way, if you’re wondering about the ZZ Top lyrics at the beginning of this article, it’s a tribute to Carlson’s family. His stepmother is the granddaughter of Carl Swanson, who founded the Swanson Frozen Foods company, which invented the Tv dinner. The company was sold to Campbells in 1955. Carlson’s family no longer has any connection to the company.)