Tucker Carlson, who was fired from Fox News in April, told his biographer Chadwick Moore that the reason for his departure was the network’s landmark settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.
The former Fox News host said in Moore’s “Tucker,” a copy of which was obtained by The Guardian, that his ouster was a specific condition of the $787.5 million defamation settlement, a claim both Dominion and Fox News have denied on multiple occasions.
“They agreed to take me off the air,” Carlson said in the book, due on U.S. shelves Aug. 1, “as a condition of the Dominion settlement.”
The former Fox News anchor continued, saying, “They had to settle this; Rupert [Murdoch] couldn’t testify. I think that deal was made minutes before the trial started.”
“I mean, I know it was,” Carlson concluded.
According to All Seasons Press, the book’s publisher, Moore was “granted unprecedented access to Carlson’s professional and personal life.”
The biography is said to be based on “hundreds of hours of interviews with Carlson, his family, colleagues, acquaintances and enemies.”
Fox News has consistently disputed Carlson’s claims that his ouster was tied to the defamation lawsuit. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Prior to his departure from Fox News, Carlson was an essential part of the network’s primetime lineup, which has since been reshuffled in his absence. While occupying the primetime slot, Carlson dominated cable news in ratings and viewership but often generated controversy.
Since his firing, Carlson has taken to Elon Musk-owned Twitter to continue his commentary, a move that Fox News said is a breach of his contract.
