According to an Axios report, Fox News notified Tucker Carlson on Wednesday that he breached his contract by launching his own show on Twitter.
Fox News is now considering legal action against Tucker Carlson.
America’s #1 primetime news host released the first episode of his new show on Twitter Tuesday evening which, at the time of this publication, has 94 million views.
Watch:
Axios reported:
Fox News Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson’s lawyers that the former prime-time anchor violated his contract with the network when he launched his own Twitter show on Tuesday, according to a copy of a letter obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: A breach of contract claim sets Fox News up to explore potential legal action against Carlson, a move that would intensify the already thorny public battle between the two parties.
Carlson’s lawyers told Axios that any legal action by Fox would violate his First Amendment rights.
“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds. Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events,” said Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, in a statement to Axios.
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Details: Shortly after Carlson posted the first episode of his new show on Twitter Tuesday evening, Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar sent a letter to Carlson’s lawyers saying Carlson “is in breach” of his contract agreement.
“In connection with such breach and pursuant to the Agreement, Fox expressly reserves all rights and remedies which are available to it at law or equity.”
The letter refers to Carlson’s contract, which was originally signed on November 8, 2019 and amended on February 16, 2021.
“This evening we were made aware of Mr. Tucker Carlson’s appearance on Twitter in a video that lasted over 10 minutes,” the letter read.
It adds that Carlson’s contract says he is “prohibited from rendering services of any type whatsoever, whether ‘over the internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.’”
Carlson’s legal team, according to a source familiar with its thinking, objects to the network’s effort to block Carlson’s Twitter appearances because, they believe, Twitter is not directly competitive with Fox News.
A source told Axios that Fox believes it has been working in good faith to reach an amicable agreement.
