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Fox News, Tucker Carlson part ways days after Fox settles Dominion lawsuit

Announcement comes after the conservative outlet reached a $787.5 million settlement over a damaging defamation case

Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways, the media company said in a statement on Monday, less than a week after Fox News and parent company Fox Corp settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.

The settlement with Denver-based Dominion averted a trial putting one of the world's top media companies in the crosshairs over its coverage of false vote-rigging claims in the 2020 US election. Carlson had been expected to testify in the Dominion trial.

Dominion had alleged that statements made on Carlson’s show after the 2020 election were defamatory. The company claimed that messages between Carlson and his team were proof that they knew claims Dominion's ballot-counting machines were used to manipulate the presidential election in favour of Democrat Joe Biden were false.

“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” Fox News said in the statement. The company did not offer an explanation for Carlson's departure.

Carlson’s last programme was April 21, the company said in a statement. It said that "Fox News Tonight" will air live at 8pm EST starting today as an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.

"Tucker Carlson Tonight" was among Fox News' top-rated primetime shows, regularly attracting more than 3 million nightly viewers. Fox is the most-watched US cable news network.

After the announcement of Carlson's departure from Fox News, a spokesperson for former US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Fox News is controlled opposition." Trump gave an interview to Carlson earlier this month that aired on Fox News.

Shares of Fox Corp were down about 5% after the announcement.