A lawyer for Tucker Carlson responded to claims that Fox News sent a cease-and-desist to the former host over his Twitter show, accusing the network of engaging in censorship.
A report from Axios claimed that Fox sent a letter, which has the text “NOT FOR PUBLICATION” at the top, demanding that Carlson stop his Twitter show. The first two episodes drew tens of millions of impressions on Twitter.
In response to the Monday report, Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer who represents Carlson, wrote on Twitter that her “friend and client [Carlson] will not be silenced—by the far left or by Fox News.”
Multiple Fox News representatives have not yet responded to an Epoch Times request for comment. The network also has not issued a public statement following the Axios report.
Elaborating in a statement to media outlets, Dhillon responded to the alleged cease-and-desist letter by saying that Fox News is ignoring “the interests of its viewers, not to mention its shareholder obligations.”
She added: “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,” the statement 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.”
High-powered Hollywood attorney Bryan Freedman also represents Carlson, and he told news outlets last week that Carlson won’t be silenced by Fox News. Previously, he reportedly argued that Fox News breached its contract with Carlson, rendering it no longer valid.
“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds,” Freedman said in a recent statement. “Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events.”
Boycott?
Going a step further, Dhillon, a former California Republican Party official who unsuccessfully ran to challenge Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel earlier this year, suggested that other conservative commentators and elected officials boycott Fox News over its alleged actions against Carlson.
“For all the members of Congress, culture warriors, ‘influencers,’ @GOP officials—do you really want to air your views on a network that spits on its viewers, leaks oppo on its own talent, and even threatens former talent for speaking, for free, on @Twitter ?! You have free will!” Dhillon claimed.
“For all the friends who have been asking ‘why don’t we see you on Fox anymore?'” she asked. “This is why. I am passionately committed to free speech and a free flow of information necessary for a free society. Until Fox stops trying to silence Tucker, it’s not a place for me.”
Dhillon also wrote Monday that she “feel[s] for my friends working at the network which has clearly caved into pressure from some quarter to silence [Carlson]. What you are seeing on Fox today is a censored version of the news. Keep that in mind as you make your viewing and your commenting choices.”
Last week, it was reported that Fox News sent a demand letter to Carlson warning that it could take legal action against the former host for the Twitter program. It’s not clear, however, if Carlson and Twitter came to a contractual agreement, although owner Elon Musk wrote last month that there was no agreement between his company and Carlson.
That letter, sent to Carlson’s lawyers last week, didn’t explicitly demand Carlson stop posting videos on Twitter. In the document, according to multiple reports, Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar said the former host was breaching his contract.
The Epoch Times could not confirm the authenticity of the demand letter. Fox News did not respond to a request for comment last week.
Some conservative influencers and personalities, in response, called for people to stop watching the network. Carlson has not publicly responded to the demand letters and hasn’t revealed any details about why he departed the network in late April.
On Monday, there were more calls for a boycott of the network. “BOYCOTT FOX NEWS!” wrote the popular conservative Twitter account, The Columbia Bugle.
Unconfirmed reports have alleged that Fox News is continuing to pay Carlson and is maintaining his contract until Dec. 31, 2024, or more than a month after the 2024 presidential election. Fox has not publicly commented on those reports.
Carlson’s former executive producer, Justin Wells, wrote on Twitter that the ex-Fox News host’s next Twitter episode will premiere on Tuesday. He’ll focus on the unprecedented federal indictment against former President Donald Trump, he confirmed.
Two episodes of his nascent Twitter show, “Tucker on Twitter,” have generated some 170 million views for its first two episodes, according to Twitter’s data. It’s unclear how many of those viewers watched the full clip, part of it, or were merely served with an impression.
From The Epoch Times