This week, former Fox News star Tucker Carlson released his first “Tucker on Twitter” episode, which garnered tens of millions of views within twenty-four hours, much to the displeasure of his former network.

Axios reports that Fox lawyers sent a letter to Carlson’s legal team alleging that he is still under contract with the network and that releasing another program like his Twitter show constitutes a breach. Carlson, meanwhile, has argued that Fox breached his contract, and therefore he is free to pursue other opportunities.

Fox pulled Carlson from the air at the end of April. In the subsequent months, he has claimed that the network broke its promises to him, although his actual status with the network was ambiguous until the letter was sent to his legal team.

The attorney for Carlson has also responded to the letter.

“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds. Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events,” said Bryan Freedman, according to Axios.

The episode has received more than 103 million views to date. Comparatively, Carlson’s average nightly audience on Fox was slightly more than 3 million, which was the highest of any network or cable news channel.

Ep. 1 pic.twitter.com/O7CdPjF830

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 6, 2023

“In connection with such breach and pursuant to the Agreement, Fox expressly reserves all rights and remedies which are available to it at law or equity,” the Fox News letter said, per Axios.

It also cited Carlson’s contract, which reportedly states, “Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Mr. Carlson’s’services shall be completely exclusive to Fox.'”

Thus, Carlson is “prohibited from providing services of any kind, whether ‘over the internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter conceived,'” the ruling adds.

Fox News taking action against Carlson is unlikely to endear the network to its viewers and, in many cases, former viewers, given that, according to a new survey, Carlson is the media figure in whom people place the most trust for news and information.

“Carlson topped a list included in a new Gallup survey of leading news media figures and entertainment personalities as part of a survey in which respondents were asked who they trusted most to provide them news,” Gallup reported.

“Carlson had 113 mentions, followed by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow (107) and then Fox News pundit Sean Hannity (57), who was tied with former Daily Show host and comedian Trevor Noah. NBC News anchor Lester Holt placed highest among non-opinion journalists, placing seventh with 55 mentions,” the survey found.

“Now we are going to ask you about the one public individual you watch or follow the most to get information,” the Gallup poll stated. “Public individuals are people who have public influence.”

More on this story via Conservative Brief:

Another recent survey found that Carlson remains more popular with Americans than his former employer. CONTINUE READING…