Carlson released an interview with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on Thursday. The former Fox star was let go in April during a tumultuous time for the network, which had recently settled a $787.5 million defamation suit. The network was also facing a lawsuit from a former Fox producer who alleged a toxic workplace atmosphere at Tucker Carlson Tonight. Fox eventually settled.
Additionally, there were reports that Carlson had referred to a senior Fox News executive as a “cunt.”
Since leaving the network, Carlson has recorded nearly two dozen episodes of Tucker on X, which was formally called Tucker on Twitter before the platform changed its name. At the 40 minutes and 38 second mark of the interview, Portnoy asked Carlson about his departure from Fox.
While Carlson had nothing but praise for the Murdoch family, which owns the company, he said it is run by “fearful women,” likely in part a reference to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott.
Here is that exchange:
PORTNOY: Now let me ask you this. Before the Fox unwinding–CARLSON: You mean I got fired.PORTNOY: Yes.CARLSON: [LAUGHS]PORTNOY: Did you think, like, were you an ardent “Go Fox, Go” guy?CARLSON: My view on Fox hasn’t really changed. They let me say whatever I want, whatever I wanted really for 14 years and I’ll never stop being grateful for that. And then obviously, I said too much. And I’m not exactly sure what I said that was bad. No one ever told me. But one day, they were like, “Nope! Can’t have this anymore.” And they fired me.And I even told them as they were firing me, like, “It’s your business.” I made a mental note. Never work for anyone else again and I never will. But I can’t be mad about it. I mean, they were great to me. The Murdochs were always nice to me and one day, for whatever reason they had enough. So, I wasn’t– my feelings weren’t hurt. I was not expecting it!PORTNOY: …Did you feel like at Fox you could say whatever you want?CARLSON: Well, there was always internal– I mean, the Murdochs were always nice, They never got in my way at all. They were always super nice to me. But there were, you know, small-mind– it’s a company run by fearful women. You know what I mean? And there were always like, you know, second-tier people who were hassling my producers. But no one ever called me. I got along with everybody, but I mean, I think they knew like, the censorship, don’t welcome that. You know? So, but they never actually got in the way of anything.
Carlson then discussed his coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine while he was at Fox News, revealing that the network’s brass was “very mad about that.” (He was repeatedly criticized in the media for being pro-Russia, a charged he denied in the interview.)
“But they never said anything to me directly,” he said. “I could just smell it. So, I really just don’t have any complaints.”
Watch above via Tucker on X.
