The Day that Rocked the Cable titans:Tucker Carlson at Fox and Don Lemon at CNN both Gone

It was not too long ago that it would have been seen as highly unlikely that either star on opposite sides of the political divide: Don Lemon at CNN and Tucker Carlson at Fox News, would exit their lofty perches.

Now both are gone suddenly on the same day, Monday April 24 within hours of one another.

Tucker Carlson, the controversial talk show host and public booster of former president Donald Trump was the first sudden departure when Fox News announced April 24 that his last show had already happened on Friday, April 21.

Carlson had not commented as of presstime.

A short time later, came news of Lemon’s departure and within an hour, he left little doubt he had been fired. “I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone at management would have had the decency to tell me directly.”

”It’s clear there are some larger issues at play here,” he said. “With that said I want to thank my colleagues and the many teams I have worked with for an incredible run.”

CNN said that his version of events was “inaccurate” and that he had turned down the chance to meet with management.

Lemon was switched from his own evening show to be one of the three co-anchors of CNN’s new early morning show with Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, and was said to have had a rocky relationship with them.

Controversy exploded around Lemon when he said that Nikki Haley, 51 year old former US Ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina was not “in her prime.”

He later apologized, but it did not seem to quench the firestorm. The New York Times reported that some guests were specifically asking not to appear on air with Lemon.

Meanwhile, a few days before Carlson’s stunning departure, Fox News had made what is believed to be the largest defamation settlement in history when it agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million on April 20 to settle the defamation case that had pending for the past two years and was about to go to trial.

Prior to the last minute settlement, it was expected that Carlson and other Fox hosts such as Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Fox Corp boss Rupert Murdoch were going to be grilled on the false claims that Fox allowed to be broadcast over the network in the wake of Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

But the last minute deal avoided that. But previous disclosures of pre-trial emails and texts showed many of the hosts, including Carlson, privately disparaging the former president and acknowledging his election fraud claims did not hold water.

“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the short company statement said. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”

But the company acknowledged he won’t even have a chance to say goodbye since it said his last show was already aired April 21. Carlson pointedly ignored any mention of the settlement on the show that aired the day the $787.5 million settlement was reached. That night’s show featured footage of disturbances in Millennium Park in Chicago, and footage of Barack Obama delivering his victory speech from the same park in 2008. Carlson seemed to be trying to make the usual connection that Democrats “encourage lawlessness” in big cities.

He then finished off the night with an interview with Elon Musk. There was no goodbye show on the following night either.

“Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday, April 21st,” the company statement said. “Fox News will air live at 8 pm/ET starting this evening (4/24) as an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.”