Tucker Carlson is back.
The former Fox News host who parted ways with the network last month announced in a video On Tuesday that he would resume his show on Elon Musk’s Twitter.
“Starting soon, we will bring a new edition of the show we have been doing on Twitter for the last six and a half years. We will also come up with some other things which we will let you know about. But for now, we’re just grateful to be here,” Carlson said, looking directly at the camera.
In the three-minute video, he characterized Twitter as the last platform dedicated to free speech, echoing his allegiance to Musk’s idea.
We are back pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
“Speech is a basic condition for democracy. That’s why it was included in our first constitutional amendment,” Carlson said. “Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t very many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining … is Twitter, where we are now.
According to Dylan Byers, a reporter for Puck News, Carlson will reportedly give up at least a $25 million severance from Fox to produce his new Twitter show.
🚨 NEWS: Tucker Carlson will relaunch his show on *Twitter* with the help of former Fox News employees. He will pay at least $25 million owed by Fox Corporation to break the non-compete clause.@PuckNews
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) May 9, 2023
Fox News announced in April that Carlson, a well-known right-wing face of the prime time show tucker carlson tonight Since 2016, will no longer be employed by the network.
The sudden announcement comes days after Fox agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over false claims that it manipulated voting in the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. Carlson was among those at the network who aired those false claims, privately disavowing them.
In a video posted on Tuesday, Carlsen criticized the mainstream media as unreliable.
“At the most basic level, the information you use is a lie. The most stealthy and most insidious kind of lie,” he said.
Carlson’s lawyers reportedly sent a letter to Fox News on Tuesday, accusing the network of breach of contract and fraud. axios, In the letter, the lawyers also reportedly argued that the terms of Carlson’s contract with Fox that barred him from working for a competitor no longer applied, leaving him free to start his own show or media venture. permission is granted.
A few days before Carlson left Fox News, he interviewed Musk on air about Musk’s plans to create “TruthGPT”, a viral OpenAI chatbot, a rival to ChatGPT. The tool, Musk said, would be “a maximally truth-seeking AI that seeks to understand the nature of the universe.”
But under Musk, who calls himself a “free speech absolutist,” misinformation has soared on Twitter. Since the billionaire bought Twitter in October, conversation through tweets from misinformation “superspreader” accounts has increased by 44%. According to the Associated Press, false information and misleading claims on divisive topics such as climate change also increased under Musk’s leadership.
It’s unclear when Carlsen’s new “show” on Twitter will begin.
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