The move comes just two weeks after Carlson was abruptly dismissed by Fox without signing off from his last show,amid revelations of vulgar text messages about a senior executive,claims of sexism from a former staffer who is now suing the network,and concerns about his inflammatory views on race.
One text,revealed byTheNew York Times,reportedly includedfantasies of a white “mob” killing a left-wing “antifa kid”.
Carlson’s departure also took place days after the Rupert Murdoch-ownedcable network settled a historic defamation lawsuit for spreading election lies,resulting in Fox paying a record $US787.5 million ($1.17 billion) to Dominion Voting Systems.
In his announcement,headed by the words “we’re back”,the 53-year-old told viewers they were “being manipulated” by the mainstream media.
“At the most basic level,the news you consume is a lie;a lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind,” he said.
“The best you could hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can. But there are always limits,and you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough you will be fired for it. That’s not a guess;it’s guaranteed.”