Recently leaked video footage from 2022 shows Tucker Carlson, the ousted Fox News host, criticizing the network's streaming service, Fox Nation, which he produced content for during his time at the company.
In footage obtained by Media Matters for America (MMFA)—a liberal media watchdog that tracks conservative media outlets—Carlson can be heard expressing his dissatisfaction with the streaming service's infrastructure and the lack of viewership it garners.
In the video, Carlson speaks to a representative for Andrew Tate—an incel supported internet personality who was recently arrested in Romania on charges for sex crimes and human trafficking. During the conversation, Carlson voices his reluctance to be beholden to Fox Nation which he claimed no one watches.
You can hear what Carlson said in the video below.
Carlson said:
"I don't want to be a slave to Fox Nation, which I don't think that people watch anyway. We’re gonna—because, you know, I'm like a representative of the American media now, speaking to an exile in Romania and welcoming him back into the brotherhood of journalists." ...
"But nobody's going to watch it on Fox Nation. Nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks. So I'd really like to just put the—dump the whole thing on YouTube. But anyway, that's just my view,. OK. I'm just frustrated with it."
Carlson blamed poor site design for the lack of viewers.
"It's hard to use that site. I don't know why they're not fixing it. It's driving me insane. And they're like making, like, Lifetime movies. But they don't, they don't work on the infrastructure of the site."
"Like what? It's crazy. And it drives me crazy because it's like we're doing all this extra work and no one can find it. It's unbelievable, actually." ...
"We're like working like animals to produce all this content, and the people in charge of it, whoever that guy's, whatever his name is, like, they're ignoring the fact that the site doesn't work. And I think it's like a betrayal of our efforts. That's how I feel. So I, of course, I resent it."
Fox has not revealed how many subscribers it has on Fox Nation.
Carlson produced several specials and segments for the streaming service, including a controversial miniseries on the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The leaked video quickly went viral on social media after it was shared by Matthew Gertz, the Senior Media Fellow at MMFA.
The footage exposed Carlson to further criticism.
While Carlson has been known for his controversial comments on Fox News, his departure from the network marks a major change in the media landscape. As one of the network’s most popular hosts, his departure could have significant implications for the conservative media ecosystem.
Carlson's departure came mere days after Fox News paid over $787 million to settle a case brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which argued Fox News and its top hosts spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being rigged despite being aware the claims were false.
Carlson was perhaps Fox News' biggest conspiratorial mouthpiece and text messages he'd sent to other Fox personalities—which featured heavily in Dominion's lawsuit—showed he was acutely aware of the damage he was doing but continued to lie anyway.
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