Tucker Carlson alleged through a letter from his lawyers on Tuesday that Fox News breached its contract with him and requested that the network “preserve all existing documents and data” pursuant to its relationship with Carlson.
It's a step that would be taken if Carlson were considering a lawsuit against Fox News, but that has not happened yet.
Carlson's allegations that Fox News breached his contact first, if found to be accurate, would allow him to start a new show anywhere he wants without repercussions from the network.
According to Axios, the letter was sent to Fox News executives Viet Dinh and Irena Briganti and claimed that Fox employees including “Rupert Murdoch himself,” broke promises to Carlson “intentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth.”
Fox News apparently promised him that it would not settle with Dominion “in a way which would indicate wrongdoing” by Carlson or harm his reputation. Carlson also alleged that the network leaked his personal communications, which also breaches the contract.
According to Axios, two sources said that Carlson was told he was taken off the air as part of the Dominion settlement, although Fox News and Dominion have both denied this.
“These actions not only breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the Agreement, but give rise to claims for breach of contract, and intentional and negligent misrepresentation,” the letter reportedly said.
Carlson is using this justification to restart his show on Twitter. Under his contract, he is not allowed to produce content on his own or with any competitor of Fox News.
Carlson's legal team said it will work to prove that Briganti leaked his communications. “Make no mistake, we intend to subpoena Ms. Briganti’s cell phone records and related documents, which evidence communications with her and all media, including, but not limited to The New York Times,” the letter said.
The communications included emails and videos that were unflattering to Carlson, although his fans really didn't seem to care about them and some said they liked Carlson more after seeing them.
Carlson posted a video titled "We're back" on Tuesday, promising that he would take his show to Twitter because it is "not partisan" and free speech could exist there.
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
The video has been viewed more than 105 million times.
According to a popular influencer calculator, Carlson could earn between $54,000 and $91,000 per post based on his existing Twitter profile. If he posted a video five days a week most weeks of the year, he could make between $13.5 million and $22 million a year with videos on Twitter.
Even if he forfeits his Fox News contract, it seems like he's going to be just fine.
