Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson had close encounter with Fox founder Rupert Murdoch at a hotel near the Republican National Convention on Wednesday.
Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News took to X to post a photo of the pair in the lobby of the Trade Hotel near the convention in Milwaukee. Sherman reported the men did not speak, as Murdoch was with an entourage and Carlson “walked by with a smile.”
A source in the room told Mediaite Murdoch did not see Carlson, who was arriving for breakfast as the media titan was making his way to the elevator. There was no interaction between the two, the source said. They alleged that one man in Carlson’s entourage — seen in the photo immediately to the right of him with a beard and a blazer — was sitting in the lobby having breakfast when Murdoch walked in. The source said the man got on the phone when he did, then dashed out of the lobby and returned with Carlson as Murdoch was leaving.
INTERESTING PHOTO — @TuckerCarlson walking into the Trade Hotel next to the convention arena.
Rupert Murdoch, just feet from Tucker (on the right), was immediately surrounded by his entourage, per a witness.
Tucker walked by with a smile, per the witness. pic.twitter.com/rlPcLRGuGP
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 17, 2024
Carlson was the most-watched cable news host in the country when he was abruptly fired from Fox News back in April 2023. The network never gave an explanation for his ouster, but it came on the heels of a series of controversies, including the company’s bruising settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over the promotion of Donald Trump’s stolen election conspiracy theories.
The New York Times later reported that despite Carlson’s close relationship with Fox Corp. chairman Lachlan Murdoch, the family had grown tired of the controversies he ginned up, as well as his openly bragging that he could not be controlled. The Times reported that Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, with the blessing of the elder Murdoch, dismissed Carlson on a phone call just minutes before his ouster was announced publicly.
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