Tucker Carlson is out at FOX News -- a stunning development that comes on the heels of the cable news giant's massive nine-figure settlement of the Dominion Voting defamation case.
The often controversial media personality's been a ratings king for years now in his primetime slot, but the network says this past Friday was his last show. The company says it's agreed to part ways with him, not giving any further reason or context.
They add, "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."
Instead of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" coming on at 8 PM ET, which was his usual start time, FOX says "FOX News Tonight" will air live in its place as an interim show with a rotating list of FOX personalities hosting until a permanent one is named.
Tucker has been helming his program at FOX for years now -- dating back to 2016 -- and killing his competition at other networks. Prior to getting his show, he had worked at FOX as a contributor and journalist since 2009.
Fox News Settles Dominion Defamation Lawsuit for $787 Million
This move comes after FOX agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle the lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems -- which accused the network of embracing/airing outright lies about their voting machines during the 2020 election.
If it had gone to trial, Tucker and several other FOX personalities would likely have been called to testify.
Tucker was a key figure in this litigation ... text messages of his were aired out during the discovery process, and he was found to have trashed Donald Trump in private to colleagues.
Interestingly enough, Tucker signed off his last show on Friday with "We'll be back on Monday."
It goes without saying ... his tenure at FOX has been incredibly controversial, but also successful by the same token. However you look at it, it's the end of an era.