Fox News has gone through a lot of shakeups in recent months, ranging from mass layoffs in the wake of a lawsuit settlement that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to the firing of former mainstay Tucker Carlson. Now, a big name in news is leaving hit show The Five: Geraldo Rivera, who announced the upcoming departure himself, along with the dates for his final episodes of the series.
Geraldo Rivera announced on the morning of June 21 via Twitter that he’s leaving The Five, and his final appearances will air before the end of the month. He wrote:
Morning, it’s official, I’m off [The Five]. My last scheduled show appearances are Thursday and Friday June 29th and 30th. It’s been a great run and I appreciate having had the opportunity. Being odd man out isn’t always easy. For the time being, I’m still Correspondent at Large.
Host turnover isn’t unusual for The Five going back a number of years, notably including (but not limited to) Juan Williams deciding to leave after COVID struggles in 2021 and Bob Beckel being fired back in 2017 for insensitive remarks to an African-American employee. Rivera’s statement reveals that he’ll still be a correspondent for Fox News, so he’s not entirely cutting ties with the network or moving on the way that Tucker Carlson has, with his new Twitter show quickly sparking legal action from Fox News.
Of course, Rivera's mention of being the “odd man out” is a reference to his role as a liberal host on a largely conservative panel. He shared with The Associated Press that he ultimately made the decision to leave The Five himself, and added that Fox News management didn’t ask him to return after making his decision. The outlet reports that the network has yet to comment on the situation.
Rivera had been suspended multiple times from the show. While he didn’t get into specifics about his decision to leave, he did comment to the outlet on a “growing tension” at The Five that fueled his choice:
There has been a growing tension that goes beyond editorial differences and personal annoyances and gripes. It’s not worth it to me… I’m 80 years old. I don’t want the friction. The Five is too intimate a place and it gets too personal.
The Five’s format has been a hit with Fox News viewers, as the show is reportedly the network’s most-watched program, even with airing in the afternoon rather than in a primetime slot that would be more expected to draw a more sizable audience. It averaged more than three million viewers in 2022. Geraldo Rivera went on to say that the relationship between him and his fellow The Five panelists is “a reflection of what the country is going through. ... It’s not an easy job if you take it as personally as I do.”
Geraldo Rivera is a well-known figure across television news going back decades, including for his infamous report about Al Capone’s secret vaults that ultimately did not produce any of the notorious gangster’s valuables. He was also a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, which found a way to touch on the Al Capone report.
It remains to be seen what his role as a correspondent will be on Fox in the wake of leaving The Five, although he’s no stranger to other shows like Sean Hannity’s Hannity on the network. For now, fans can just look forward to his final appearances on The Five on June 29 and June 30.
