Former Fox News superstar Tucker Carlson and former White House adviser Neil Patel are teaming up to create a new Twitter-centric independent media company.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the duo is currently trying to raise “hundreds of millions” of dollars to support the venture.
The report states, “The new company would be anchored by longer versions of the free videos that Carlson has been posting regularly on Twitter since shortly after his departure from Fox News, but would ultimately be driven by subscriptions, some of the people said.”
People who are not subscribed will still have access to shorter versions of his show and portions of the company’s documentaries and articles. To access the full content, one must pay for the subscription.
Carlson and Patel also hope to bring in additional talent at some point to create more shows — potentially giving Fox News a run for their money.
The duo were college roommates and previously teamed up in 2010 to create the Daily Caller, which Patel still runs.
The Journal reports that the team has already “lined up financiers, lawyers and media strategists.”
Though Fox News unceremoniously fired Carlson in April, the network is attempting to continue to enforce a contract that says any content he produces be exclusive to them through December 31, 2024 — even sending him a cease and desist over his “Tucker on Twitter” segments that he is posting to the platform.
Carlson’s lawyer Harmeet Dhillon told Axios that the popular host has no intention of complying.
“Fox News continues to ignore the interests of its viewers, not to mention its shareholder obligations,” Dhillon said in a statement.
“Doubling down on the most catastrophic programming decision in the history of the cable news industry, Fox is now demanding that Tucker Carlson be silent until after the 2024 election,” Dhillon continued. “Tucker will not be silenced by anyone … He is a singularly important voice on matters of public interest in our country, and will remain so.”
As of July 14, the nine episodes of “Tucker on Twitter” that have been released so far have been viewed 467.1 million times.
