Fox News said “no decision” has been made regarding Drudge Report’s claim that host Sean Hannity would replace former host Tucker Carlson’s 8 p.m. time slot.
On Wednesday, the Drudge Report ran a headline suggesting Hannity would take over the outlet’s 8 p.m. time slot.
“FOXNEWS is preparing to announce an ambitious new schedule, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, a schedule where ever hour of primetime will change!” Drudge reported. “TOP SOURCE TELLS DRUDGE: ‘IT’S OUR BOLDEST AND MOST FEARLESS LINE-UP EVER’…”
Drudge Report later updated the headline suggesting fellow Fox News hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld would reportedly get primetime time slots, according to the report.
Fox News contested the report saying, “no decision has been made on a new primetime line-up,” but revealed, “there are multiple scenarios under consideration,” per Variety.
DRUDGE: Fox News to move Sean Hannity to 8pm ET to replace Tucker, then will be followed by Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld. pic.twitter.com/aC69c9agY4
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) May 17, 2023
Watters and Gutfeld host their own shows at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m., respectively.
Both hosts also co-host Fox News’ The Five at 5 p.m. along with Dana Perino, Jeanine Pirro, Jessica Tarlov, Harold Ford Jr., and Geraldo Rivera
In late April, Carlson abruptly departed Fox News “effective immediately.”
It was initially reported the outlet and Carlson had mutually “agreed to part ways.”
“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” reads Fox News’ statement.
Later reports suggested the former host’s ousting had come directly at the request of Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch regarding Carlson’s reporting on the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 2021.
Last week, Carlson posted a video to Twitter commenting on the state of legacy media, saying “the news you consume is a lie … you are being manipulated.”
“You can’t have a free society if people aren’t allowed to say what they think is true,” he added. “Speech is the fundamental prerequisite for democracy.”
Carlson referred to Twitter as the only platform that allows free speech, noting national conversations incubate and develop on the platform. The former Fox News host also asserted that although Twitter was not a partisan site, legacy media gatekeepers maintained control of the narrative on the platform.
“We think that’s a bad system,” Carlson said. “We know exactly how it works, and we’re sick of it.”
The former host revealed he would bring a “new version” of Tucker Carlson Tonight, which originally premiered on Fox News in 2016, to Twitter.
“Free speech is the main right that you have,” he concluded. “Without it you have no others.”
