The Tucker Carlson-Fox News contract dispute is intensifying.
The cable news network sent a “cease in desist” letter to its former primetime star recently, reports Axios, warning him to stop posting original commentary on Twitter.
Fox News took Carlson off its air on April 24.
Last week, Fox contacted Carlson’s representation alleging that he breached his contract with the network–of which he is under until January 2025–by launching a new show on Twitter.
The tweets featuring the two ~10-minute episodes of Tucker on Twitter attracted roughly 169 million impressions combined (it’s worth noting that Twitter “impressions” are number of times a tweet is viewed, different from a video start).
Episode three posts Tuesday on Twitter and will feature Carlson’s response to the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Carlson’s legal team, led by high-profile entertainment lawyer and litigator Bryan Freedman, claims Twitter is not a direct competitor of Fox News’ and therefore disagrees the network’s stance of blocking his ability to air original segments on the social media platform; making a First Amendment argument.
“Fox News continues to ignore the interests of its viewers, not to mention its shareholder obligations,” Carlson lawyer Harmeet K. Dhillon told Axios in a statement. “Doubling down on the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry, Fox is now demanding that Tucker Carlson be silent until after the 2024 election.
Tucker will not be silenced by anyone … He is a singularly important voice on matters of public interest in our country, and will remain so.”
Axios says Fox News didn’t comment on its reporting.