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Two of cable news' most prominent figures were pulled from their on-air slots Monday morning, andMeghan McCainwasn’t shy about her reaction to the major changes.
“It’s a bad day to be a misogynist on cable man…” McCain wrote on Twitter in response to the news thatTucker Carlsonhadabruptly left Fox NewsandDon Lemonwasterminated from CNN. Both departures were announced within an hour of each other.
“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the statement said of the host ofTucker Carlson Tonight, whom they revealed anchored his final show on Friday. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
In her tweet, McCain referenced the shared history of Carlson, 53, and Lemon, 57, who have both gotten in trouble with their networks in recent months.
In a segment with his co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, the formerCNN This Morninghost said, “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
Lemon swiftly issued anapologyfor the comment, writing on social media several hours later, “The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.”
Network chairman Chris Licht said that he had a “frank and meaningful conversation” with the seasoned anchor, and said that the network took the situation “very seriously.”
“It is important to me that CNN balances accountability with fostering a culture in which people can own, learn and grow from their mistakes,” Licht’s statement said.
In one of the exchanges, dated Jan. 4, 2021, Carlson texts a colleague: “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.”
“I hate him passionately,” another text from Carlson said, perThe Washington Post.
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In another exchange made public in March, Carlson wrote: “We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump.”
Carlson’s text messages are among a large tranche of private conversations and under-oath testimony from executives and hosts at Fox News, which Dominion argued in its complaint “sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process.”
Fox argued, in a counterclaim, that Dominion “mischaracterized the record” and “cherry-picked quotes stripped of key context.”
In a statement sent to PEOPLE amid the legal battle, a spokesperson for Fox accused Dominion of using “distortions and misinformation” in what it called a “PR campaign to smear FOX News and trample on free speech and freedom of the press.”
source: people.com
