(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – Fox News fired Tucker Carlson because its management saw him as a “lightning rod” attracting future lawsuits, the network’s former star host, Bill O’Reilly, commented.
Carlson was let go by Fox on Monday, after last week, the company agreed to pay a $787.5 million settlement in a defamation lawsuit to Dominion Voting Systems over claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Bill O’Reilly, who left Fox in 2017 after being the network’s nighttime star for years, pointed out that his former employer faced several upcoming lawsuits.
“There are a number of lawsuits going to be filed shortly against the Fox News’ board of directors,” O’Reilly noted on his “No Spin News” program, as cited by Newsmax.
“Fox News stock was down big today, so FNC is aware those lawsuits are coming. The board of directors themselves, the individuals sitting on the board, [they’re] going to have to defend themselves. That’s big,” he elaborated.
O’Reilly stressed the next lawsuit would be from Smartmatic, the voting machine company, which is suing Fox News for $2.6 billion.
“This Smartmatic company only had one county in the 2020 election where their machines were used, so they’re suing for $2.6 billion. That’s just insane,” he emphasized.
“They’ll settle, I believe, with Fox, but for not nearly what Dominion got, but that’s an opinion of mine,” the former Fox News anchor predicted.
“Destructive Tucker Carlson is the lightning rod,” O’Reilly commented further.
He added that Fox could face a lawsuit from Ray Epps, a January 6 protester who urged Tucker Carlson to correct his allegations that Epps was an undercover government agent provoking violence during the breach of the US Capitol.
On Sunday night, Epps told the CBS News program “60 Minutes” “that Tucker Carlson ruined his life.”
“[Tucker Carson is] “obsessed with me. He’s going to any means possible to destroy my life and our lives,” the Capitol protester stated in the show that aired the night before Fox News fired Carlson.
According to “60 Minutes,” Carlson spoke about Ray Epps half a dozen times in 2023 and more than 20 times on his now-former program.
“That was a pretty strong assertion on ’60 Minutes,’ and when I saw it, I said, ‘Oh, here comes the lawsuit against Tucker Carlson and Fox News from Ray Epps,’” Bill O’Reilly commented.
O’Reilly said CNN host Don Lemon, who was also fired on Monday, was also a “lightning rod,” but the difference with Tucker Carlson’s case was that Lemon got sacked due to his poor ratings.
“None of those operations are going to stand by their man. When the going gets rough, you’re going to get thrown right overboard, no matter who you are. That’s the way American corporations work. If the corporation feels you are a deterrent in any way, and it’s more than you’re bringing in, it’s not worth it,” O’Reilly elaborated.
He said Fox would probably have to pay out Carlson’s contract “the way they had to pay mine out.
O’Reilly also noted that Carlson was smart, but his “commentary became in many cases conspiratorial.”
“You can make a lot of money doing that, and there’s nothing wrong with doing that, as long as you tell people, ‘This is my opinion. It’s speculation, but this is what I think.’ There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t disparage that. I’m a hard news guy. My opinions are based on facts, but the conspiracy industry is huge,” O’Reilly concluded.
