In the last 48 hours, there has been an abrupt culling of problematic-to-very-monstrous people in news media. Yesterday, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Shell stepped down immediately following an investigation of his alleged sexual harassment and gender discrimination. While CNN has made some dangerous hirings lately (under questionable circumstances), they let Don Lemon go following a series of sexist comments. And now, Tucker Carlson has parted ways with Fox News.
Of these three, Carlson has gotten the most attention because Tucker Carlson Tonight is unfortunately the most-watched show on cable news. The show made him one of the most recognizable figures in white nationalist media. Someone so toxic (to put it lightly) to advertisers that one of the only people left standing with a checkbook was the My Pillow guy, Mike Lindell. This firing also comes just days after Fox News settled with Dominion voting systems in a defamation suit for a record-breaking 787.5 million dollars.
Twitter (and TikTok) rejoice about Tucker’s firing
Right on cue, the internet was set ablaze. The last time I saw this amount of celebration was when news broke of former President Donald Trump’s indictment.
The best responses, however, were ones from pop culture. After all, despite the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Heidi Beirich accurately describing Carlson in 2018 as “the No. 1 commentator mainstreaming bedrock principles of white nationalism in this country,” he’s also a walking villain. Tucker is so obviously bigoted that it’s equally surprising and not surprising that he was able to spread his hate for so long on a mainstream network. Also, when the news was slow, or Carlson wanted to divert attention away from something else, he could stir up culture war drama out of thin air like your uncle on Facebook.
@cdearieful Thoughts & Prayers ?? LOL #tuckercarlson #foxnews #tuckercarlsonfired #byebitch #capcut ♬ original sound – CourtneyLuvSeat
Sometimes it’s the simple things that feel the most … *chef’s kiss*.
One of the most viral reactions has been the celebration of Media Matters journalist Kat Abughazaleh. The Gen Z reporter used to accurately display the text “I watch Tucker Carlson so you don’t have to” in her Twitter bio. However, within hours of the news breaking, her bio now says, “LMFAOOOOOOOOO.” Abughazaleh was met with celebratory Venmo tips and so many questions about this announcement that she made a quick TikTok to address to most common—including, “does this mean you lost your job, too?”
Not just the Dominion lawsuit
A lot of jokes have centered on the Dominion lawsuit. Even though the money owed is tax-deductible, it’s still not a great time over at Fox News. However, the settlement payout alone is likely not the sole cause. For one, many of the hosts are to blame. The outcome of the evidence-finding mission probably didn’t help, as Carlson was outed as someone who “hate[s] [Trump] passionately.” Before you say, “Hey, join the club,” please remember that Carlson has Trump’s ear and publicly defends nearly everything Trump does to this day. Carlson is allowed to lie about his feelings toward Trump—and a number of other things—because no reasonable person would believe him.
Yes, like Alex Jones before him, Carlson’s legal team argued that it’s a sort of performance art and not news … on Fox News. While it covered Carlson legally, that can only go so far in the eyes of his supporters. Additionally, there’s the upcoming lawsuit alleging workplace sexism and antisemitism at Tucker Carlson Tonight. Needless to say, tensions have never really simmered down, and this is likely contributing to whatever happened between Fox News in those minutes between advertising tonight’s episode of Carlson’s now-canceled show and the announcement of his departure.
(featured image: Nordisk Film Distribution)
