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An inside source at Fox News told Drudge Report that Sean Hannity will permanently take over the coveted 8 pm primetime slot previously held by Tucker Carlson.
In a major shake-up, Fox News will also reportedly give personalities Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld primetime shows.
These significant changes could leave host Laura Ingraham without an evening show.
Jesse Watters would move to Hannity’s 9 p.m. slot while Greg Gutfeld moves to a prime-time show at 10 p.m.
It appears that Laura Ingraham, who currently hosts the 10 p.m. show, would be bumped out of the line-up.
A Fox spokesperson denied the shake-up and insisted that a new lineup had been finalized.
“No decision has been made on a new primetime line-up and there are multiple scenarios under consideration,” the spokesperson said.
Fox News has denied any plans to cut ties with Ingraham.
“Reports based on various tweets by left wing activists are wildly inaccurate — Laura Ingraham, the top-rated woman in cable news, is now and will continue to be a prominent host and integral part of the Fox News lineup,” a spokesperson said, according to Deadline.
BREAKING: According to Drudge, Fox News will move Sean Hannity to 8pm ET to replace Tucker, followed by Jesse Watters at 9pm, and Greg Gutfeld at 10pm. There is no indication on the network's plans for Laura Ingraham and Trace Gallagher.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 17, 2023
Viewership has tanked without Carlson and the network has struggled to find a replacement.
Fox News has also struggled to regain credibility with conservatives who are confused why a powerful voice like Carlson’s was abruptly fired.
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany attracted roughly 1.4 million viewers, which is over a 50% decrease from Carlson’s 3 million viewers on average.
A Fox News board member, who has not been named, told Tucker Carlson that his firing was a condition of the network’s lawsuit settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, according to an investigative report from Variety.
“Multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation” told Variety reporter Tatiana Siegel that Carlson’s show was abruptly canceled as part of the lawsuit settlement.
However, this condition of the settlement was not put down in writing as part of the official court documents. Dumping Carlson was an unwritten promise from Fox News to Dominion, according to the Variety report.
Fox News agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million as part of the settlement, which is the largest media payout in history. Fox News was accused of airing false claims about Dominion’s equipment during the 2020 presidential election.
Another media outlet, Axios, also reported that a member of Fox’s board told Carlson the Dominion settlement was the reason he went off the air.
"[Dominion] got accountability…and they got justice and some measure of compensation for the company in the largest known defamation settlement in American history" Dominion attorney Stephen Shackelford on the Fox News settlement. #KatiePhangShow pic.twitter.com/lDEWJerDQN
— The Katie Phang Show (@katiephangshow) April 22, 2023
Both Dominion and Fox Corp. have rejected the claims in Variety and Axios’ reports.
Dominion released a statement, saying, “As the Fox principals who negotiated the settlement well know, Dominion made no demands about Tucker Carlson’s employment orally or in writing. Any claims otherwise are categorically false and a thinly veiled effort to further damage Dominion. Fox should take every effort to stop these lies immediately.”