Fox News reportedly has a file of dirt on now-former anchor Tucker Carlson to keep him from retaliating against the company in the wake of his firing.
Carlson was fired on Monday morning in a move that reportedly came down directly from Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the network. Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott reportedly delivered the news.
It's unclear what cost Carlson his job; numerous theories — ranging from an ongoing lawsuit over workplace behaviour to claims the Murdoch children are sanitising the network to prep it for a sale — have been floated, but none confirmed.
His prior comments — revealed during the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against the network — showed he was critical of his colleagues and Fox News’ leadership before he was ousted. Those communications may have helped “seal his fate,” according to a source speaking to The Wall Street Journal.
Fox News executives are reportedly aware that having a spurned Carlson out in the public could be detrimental to the network's reputation; that may be why they've developed a way to muzzle their former top star.
Sources speaking to Rolling Stone said the network has compiled dirt on Carlson to keep him from torching the network on his way out.
One source with knowledge of the situation described it as an "oppo file" to Rolling Stone.
The sources said the file reportedly includes internal complaints against Carlson stemming from workplace conduct issues, disparaging comments about colleagues, and allegedly evidence suggesting Carlson fostered a toxic work environment at the network.
Carlson is being sued by a former Fox News producer who claims he cultivated a toxic work environment, citing misogynistic behaviour and lewd discussions that took place in the office.
Fox News has denied the existence of the dirt file.
"This is patently absurd and categorically false," a Fox News spokesperson told The Independent . "We thank Tucker for his service and to the network as a host, and prior to that, as a contributor."
The sources speaking to the magazine disagree; at least one of them is convinced that the company's comms head, Irena Briganti, "will never be shy about using these things."
A former Fox News anchor said "Irena tries to keep a file on everybody ... Any talent like Tucker would have a lot of things: other people complaining. They encourage it, and then just keep it on file."
Ms Briganti's allegedly aggressive tactics have been noted in past reporting; New York magazine reported in 2016 that women who formerly worked at Fox "did not speak up about sexual harassment" because "they were terrified Briganti would find out and smear them in the press."
Megyn Kelly, a former Fox employee, has previously spoken of Ms Briganti's alleged "vindictiveness,” though she later changed her tune during a 2020 episode of her podcast.
“I’ve publicly said unkind things about [Ms Briganti] because I didn’t think she was supportive of the women at Fox during the [Roger Ailes sex abuse scandal]. And she’s denied my charges against her and so on. But, I will tell you now I look at her differently and not just because she let you come on the show. I actually see Irena as having been victimized by him [Ailes] too,” she said while discussing the movie Bombshell, which included a representation of Ms Briganti.
She said Ailes controlled Ms Briganti’s livelihood, and praised her for being a “master” of public relations and saying “she’s a great person to have on your team.”
“You know, like, I have newfound respect for how she handles incoming attacks on her talent because, you know, she does sort of sit in a room all day with a machine gun trained on the outside world as they come after Fox,” she said. “Sometimes the machine gun can kind of waiver inside a little, but nobody’s perfect.”
