Lawyers for Fox News are demanding former star anchor Tucker Carlson remove his free show from Twitter and sent him a formal cease-and-desist letter.
Carlson has amassed nearly 170 million total views on the first two episodes of his new show.
Fox News is demanding he stop, but doesn’t want viewers to know. The cease-and-desist letter has “NOT FOR PUBLICATION” at the top.
The network removed Carlson from the air in early April but he remains under contract at the network through December 2024.
Carlson was reportedly ousted from Foxrk as part of a secret handshake deal connected to the network’s $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in April.
Carlson’s firing came without warning just minutes before he was set to film his show — and he reportedly told others he wants to “torch” Fox News for it.
It was reported last week his lawyers have pushed back against prior warnings from Fox. They argued that Carlson’s First Amendment rights allow him to produce his own show.
Carlson’s lawyers also argued in a statement Monday that Fox News has violated their obligation to shareholders by silencing the channel’s most popular television host.
“Fox News continues to ignore the interests of its viewers, not to mention its shareholder obligations,” lawyer Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement.
“Doubling down on the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry, Fox is now demanding that Tucker Carlson be silent until after the 2024 election,” Dhillion told Axios.
“Tucker will not be silenced by anyone … He is a singularly important voice on matters of public interest in our country, and will remain so.”
Carlson is already preparing a third episode that will debut this week.
“Next Episode of Tucker on Twitter coming Tuesday: Tucker’s response to the indictment of President Donald Trump,” Carlson’s executive producer shared on Monday.
The Horn editorial team