Is This the End of Tucker Carlson?

In a stunning announcement, Fox News and one of its top anchors, Tucker Carlson, agreed to "part ways" after 14 years together, leading many to speculate what lies ahead for the veteran broadcaster.

Monday's abrupt departure shocked many observers who noted that Carlson was not given an opportunity for a final show and that the news came just days after Fox News reached a jaw-dropping $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems—a defamation lawsuit that was expected to put Carlson on the stand.

In a Monday statement, Fox News Media thanked Carlson for "his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor." The network said his last program already aired on Friday, April 21, and that beginning April 24, the network would air "an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named".

Although his longstanding time at Fox has come to an end, experts predict that Carlson's career is far from over.

"I don't see this as the end of Tucker," political consultant Ben Torpey told Newsweek. "His celebrity has grown too large. He will surely land on his feet somewhere in the media environment."

Americans can continue expecting to see "much more" of Carlson in the future, the University of Notre Dame's Robert Schmuhl told Newsweek.

"The question is: Where? Will he continue to play a role in the media, or will he decide to engage more directly in conservative politics?" Schmuhl said. "He'll be a major player in the 2024 campaign on one side or another."

Republican strategist Matt Klink told Newsweek that while Carlson was a "lightning rod" at Fox, his "long career in political journalism" has made him a personality who is "politically astute with a wicked-quick wit"—a profile that will continue to keep him in high demand for other publications and programs.

Carlson began his media career as a reporter, writing for The Weekly Standard, The American Spectator, The New York Times magazine, and other publications. His 2003 Esquire profile, "The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen," garnered him a nomination at the National Magazine Awards.

He started his television career at CNN, where he co-hosted two shows, the short-lived "The Spin Room" and "Crossfire," which offered debate between liberal and conservative pundits. Jon Stewart, then-host of "The Daily Show," appeared on the latter in 2004, confronting and criticizing Carlson—a pivotal moment that The New York Times said led to the cancellation of the show.

Shortly after "Crossfire" was canceled, CNN announced the network was not renewing Carlson's contract. After five years at CNN, Carlson was hired to lead "Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered" at PBS, but he announced he was leaving roughly a year after the show began to focus on an evening show he secured at MSNBC, "Tucker." His MSNBC show premiered June 2005 but was canceled less than three years later due to low ratings.

In May 2009, Carlson began his career at Fox News as a contributor. Nine years later, he began hosting "Tucker Carlson Tonight," taking over Bill O'Reilly's spot in the Fox lineup after O'Reilly left amid sexual harassment allegations. Carlson's show not only became the network's most-watched program, but at one point, he had the highest-rated cable news show in the U.S.

"Tucker is the number one show in cable news for a reason," Joey Mannarino, a political strategist and former co-host of pro-Trump broadcast Your Voice America, told Newsweek. "Tucker was one of the few voices on cable news that was anti-interventionist and truly pushed an America First foreign policy agenda."

"Tucker can basically go anywhere he wants and automatically make their platform the new 'it' place to be for conservatives," Mannarino said. "This isn't Bill O'Reilly when he left. Tucker is at the top of his game. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts his own thing somewhere as certainly he knows the financial value his brand brings."

On Monday, former media correspondent for CNN Brian Stelter said he hadn't been able to reach Carlson since the news but that the announcement was "an earth-shaking moment in cable news."

"Tucker Carlson became, for a time, BIGGER than Fox News," Stelter tweeted. "His disappearance will ripple through Fox, the wider TV world and the GOP. One of the many impacts is $$$: Fox is pushing for higher carriage fees from distributors right now, and without Tucker, Fox has less leverage."

Experts that spoke with Newsweek all agreed that because Carlson often said things that other anchors did not, his absence would leave a void behind. Mannarino said the hole left by the anchor would likely cause Fox's ratings to drop quickly. Within the hour that his departure was announced, stocks of Fox News fell nearly five percent.

Klink said that the network will have a tough challenge ahead because while Fox is looking for a "clean separation" from the lies aired about the 2020 election, it is also crucial that the network "provides a needed conservative voice for an otherwise progressive 'mainstream' media"—a trait that Carlson arguably epitomized.

"Unequivocally, [Carlson] has been both a money-making machine for Fox News and a provocative thought leader in the conservative movement," Torpey said. "Folks tune in solely for his personality and his departure is a net negative for the company."

"A media landscape without Tucker is a lot less provocative and a lot more boring," he added.

Update 04/24/23 4:37 p.m. This story was updated with comments from Schmuhl.