The time for ordering Tucker Carlson is over.
The financial breakdown of the former Fox News host’s new media company was disclosed.
Carlson was commenting during a live Rumble Friday conversation with British comedian Russell Brand.
This was Carlson’s first interview since his unexpected firing from Fox.
Carlson said that he broadcasts “Tucker on Twitter” just as a user of the service – free of any advertising obligations.
Carlson, referring to the platform’s multibillionaire owner, added, “I don’t work for Elon.
.@TuckerCarlson: “I don’t work for @ElonMusk. He’s paid me zero money. I don’t think I ever want to work for anyone again.” pic.twitter.com/FvicoLA786
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 7, 2023
“He’s paid me zero money.”
Carlson referenced his experiences working for Fox News, choosing a different path where he could be his own boss.
“I don’t think I ever want to work for anyone again. I’ve done that.”
Carlson did make it clear that he wants to make money off of his career in the media.
“I’d like to make money. I think that’s fair.”
“But I’m not working for Elon Musk.”
“He hasn’t offered to hire me, and if he did I wouldn’t accept … What he’s done is offer me what he’s offered every other user of Twitter, which is a chance to broadcast your views without a gatekeeper there.”
In the hours after it streamed, roughly a million people watched Carlson’s conversation with Brand.
Russell Brand’s live mid-day interview with Tucker Carlson on Rumble was watched by almost 1 million people within the first few hours: numbers that CNN can’t dream of matching ever, let alone in Friday day-time in late July: https://t.co/tj2xxqOJM4
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 7, 2023
For years, Carlson topped cable news ratings as Fox News’ prime-time host, which led some of his followers to wonder why the network ultimately let him go.
According to Deadline, Carlson said in the interview that he was unsure of the reasons behind why Fox ultimately let him go in April. However, he told Brand that while he was surprised, he wasn’t shocked.
This is not the first time I’ve been fired. And I think in our business, when you work for a big company in media, and you know, you say what you think, there’s an expectation that you could get fired. So I’ve always had that. And I’ve always tried to take the long view, not just on media, but on life.
All graves go unvisited in the end. I always think. I was surprised. I didn’t, you know, expect to get fired that morning at all in April. So I was shocked, but I wasn’t really shocked. And I wasn’t mad. It’s not my company. And when you work for someone else, that person reserves the right, in fact, has inherently the right, to decide whether you work there or not.
Tucker wished Fox News luck in the future as well.
And I don’t know why I was fired. I really don’t. I’m not angry about it. You can believe me or not, but I think you can feel that I’m not. And you know, I wish Fox well. There was, you know, ugly leaking that I’m a racist or whatever they leaked. Someone there leaked to the New York Times, but that’s not true. And I think the people who run the company know that’s not true. Actually don’t think they did it. And I’m not mad about it. And I’ve been, I’ve been happy.
While rumors regarding the reasons and circumstances surrounding Carlson’s unexpected departure from Fox abounded for weeks, in the end, we are forced to decide whether or not to trust him if he claims to have no knowledge why he was fired. It’s just one of those things about which speculators love to speculate; what’s done is done.
Brand questioned Carlson on whether Fox or himself had a particular point of view that resulted in his dismissal. Carlson claimed that Fox always allowed him to express his opinions, but he also referred to the Russia-Ukraine War as a “red line” for the “Fair and Balanced” network.
They didn’t agree with me, of course, I don’t think — but they were always very nice to me. And they always let me say what I want. Not one time did they tell me not to say anything. So I was always grateful to Fox, and I am in retrospect, grateful to Fox for that. So that never changed up until the moment they called me and said, you know, we’re taking the show off the air. […]
The war in Ukraine is a red line for a lot of people in business and politics. And you see it in our politics in the U.S., where the leaders of the Republican Party in the Congress really are repulsive, in my view, are now supporting sending cluster bombs to Ukraine. Ukraine is losing the war, obviously. Ukrainians are dying in huge numbers, and the country is being destroyed.
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