Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly says her old network is in a "deep panic" about having to compete against Tucker Carlson, and that it now appears "multiple people" are working against the ousted primetime host whose new Twitter show has already lit the wick on a potential legal showdown.
"They recognize that he will hurt them, and they're doing everything in their power to keep him on the sidelines," Kelly said Thursday on her Sirius program "The Megyn Kelly Show."
Carlson has now released two episodes of his show on Twitter, which his legal team believes is in bounds because the social media platform is not a direct Fox News competitor. But the network sees things differently, and sent a letter to Carlson this week saying the 11-minute debut episode was in violation of their contract, which reportedly runs through 2025.
"This is how panicked they are about Tucker 2.0," Kelly said, speaking with her guest, writer and Tucker Carlson biographer Chadwick Moore.
Kelly also got into the still-unknown sources of leaked video footage published by Media Matters, with multiple instances of Carlson making crass and unflattering comments in between takes, and the infamous "that's not how white men fight" text message, and other materials from the Dominion litigation, obtained by the New York Times.
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Kelly wondered, as anyone would, why a former Deadspin writer whose Florida home was recently searched would have anything to do with the leaks, and repeated her claim that Fox has internally warned an employee about leaks being grounds for termination. Fox has steadfastly denied having anything to do with the leaked materials, and on Thursday, Kelly said it would've been a bad idea in the first place:
"If this was Fox behind these videos, they've lost their fastball," Kelly said. "Because what about these videos would alienate Tucker's audience from Tucker? And I do know that Fox is in a deep panic about Tucker coming out and competing against them. They do not want that."
Moore said Carlson's 8 p.m. ratings juggernaut was "extending not only the life, but the relevance of cable news. . He was bringing people to cable news who wouldn't normally be there." And with him gone, the knives are out.
"This is getting so twisted," Kelly said. "All of this is going to be investigated. Right now it looks like multiple people are out to get Tucker Carlson."
Watch the entire clip above.
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