Tucker Carlson accused Fox News of fraud and breach of contract and made a bunch of document demands that normally precede legal action in an aggressive letter to the network.
The letter from Tucker’s lawyers argues that the noncompete clause in his contract is invalid which means he is free him to launch his own competing show or media enterprise. Which is just what he did hours after the letter landed.
The letter from Carlson’s lawyer Bryan Freedman was sent to Fox officials Viet Dinh and Irena Briganti. It claimed Fox employees, including “Rupert Murdoch himself,” broke promises to Carlson “intentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth.”
The letter says:
“These actions not only breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the Agreement, but give rise to claims for breach of contract, and intentional and negligent misrepresentation.
“Make no mistake, we intend to subpoena Ms. Briganti’s cell phone records and related documents, which evidence communications with her and all media, including, but not limited to The New York Times.”
According to Axios:
The lawyers accuse Fox executives — which two sources say are Dinh and Murdoch — of making “material representations,” or promises, to Carlson that were intentionally broken, constituting fraud.
Notably, the letter alleges Fox broke an agreement with Carlson not to leak his private communications to the media and not to use Carlson’s private messages “to take any adverse employment action against him.”
The letter also alleges Fox broke promises not to settle with Dominion Voting Systems “in a way which would indicate wrongdoing” on the part of Carlson and not to take any actions in a settlement that would harm Carlson’s reputation.
Carlson was told by a member of the Fox board that he was taken off the air as part of the Dominion settlement, two sources briefed on a conversation told Axios.
Hours after the letter landed at Fox News, Tucker Carlson announced he is relaunching his show on Twitter.
Tucker posted a new video on Twitter with the caption: “We’re back.” He says:
“Free speech is the main right you have. Without it, you have no others. Speech is the fundamental pre-requisite for democracy. That’s why it was enshrined in the first of our Constitutional amendments.
“Amazingly, as of tonight, there are not that many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining … is Twitter, where we are now.
“Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops. Twitter is not a partisan site.
“Everybody’s allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing.
“And yet, for the most part, the news that you see analyzed on Twitter comes from media organizations that are themselves thinly disguised propaganda outlets.
“You see it on cable news, you talk about it on Twitter. The result may feel like a debate, but actually the gatekeepers are still in charge.
“We think that’s a bad system. We know exactly how it works and we’re sick of it.”
“Starting soon we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter.
“We’ll bring some other things too, which we’ll tell you about. But for now we’re just grateful to be here. Free speech is the main right that you have.
“Without it, you have no others. See you soon.”
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
