Tucker Carlson's most controversial moments as he parts ways with Fox News
Controversial Fox News host Tucker Carlson is set to leave the network just days after it settled a massive lawsuit.
In a statement, Fox News said: "FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.
"Mr Carlson's last program was Friday, April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named."
Last week, Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems, which had sued for defamation, for a massive sum of $787million.
The conservative commentator has hosted Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016 and could have been set to give evidence in court alongside host Sean Hannity before a settlement was reached.
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What was billed as the "defamation trial of the century" was nipped in the bud and Fox News must pay the figure to the election technology company based in Colorado, US.
Former President Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Dominion claimed Fox spread conspiracy theories about votes being rigged against Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Carlson's approach to TV presenting, use of guests and often extreme right-wing views have earned him condemnation.
So what are his most controversial moments?
The election lies and January 6
On January 6 2021, rioters stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC. Many of them did so in an attempt to stop Congress from formalising the election victory of President Joe Biden.
Some of the rioters believed that the election was stolen by the Democrats and President Donald Trump repeated the lie over and over again.
On March 6 this year, Tucker Carlson said rioters were "right" to believe the election was "unfairly conducted".
Fox News did not give a reason for Carlson's departure (Getty Images)No credible evidence of election interference has come to light since Mr Trump first made the allegations.
Carlson said: "The protesters were angry. They believed that the election they had just voted in had been unfairly conducted. And they were right. In retrospect, it is clear that the 2020 election was a grave betrayal of American democracy. No honest person can deny it.
He added: "The real crime, they will tell you again and again, is not what happened on Election Day 2020. The real crime is what happened two months later, on January 6."
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In the court documents that came to light during the Dominion case, the likes of Carlson and Hannity disputed Mr Trump's claims the election had been stolen, but the network continued to repeat the lie regardless.
On election night, Fox News uncovered the state of Arizona had voted in favour of Joe Biden, but some believed this would have a negative impact on their viewers.
Fox News believes its coverage gave a wide range of editorial opinion (Getty Images)Carlson told Hannity to get Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich when she tweeted a fact-check in response to Mr Trump's claims about Dominion.
He wrote: "Please get her fired. Seriously what the f**k? Actually shocked. It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down."
Immigrants make the US 'poorer and dirtier'
Carlson once described economic migrants as making the US "poorer and dirtier" in comments on his show.
He argued that immigrants were "nice people... but as an economic matter, this is insane.
He added: "Instead our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us, even if it makes our country poorer and dirtier and more divided."
Carlson called the backlash to his comments an attack on free speech (Getty Images)As a result, at least 34 advertisers cut ties with his show, but Carlson defended the comments and said the backlash against them was an attack on free speech.
Fox News also dismissed the allegations and said: "It is a shame that leftwing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed ‘media watchdogs’ weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech."
Carlson added: "You’ve seen it a million times, it happens all the time. The enforcers scream ‘racist’ on Twitter, until everybody gets intimidated."
Carlson, Putin and Ukraine
Carlson has earned controversy for his stance on Ukraine, invaded by Vladimir Putin's Russia in February 2022.
In the run-up to the full-scale invasion, Carlson said: "It may be worth asking yourself since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much."
Carlson rowed back on his comments about Putin after the full-scale invasion (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)After Russian troops, helicopters and tanks flooded across the Ukrainian border, a concerned Carlson backtracked.
He said: "Vladimir Putin started this war. He is to blame tonight for what we’re seeing tonight in Ukraine."
Along with certain factions of the Republican party, Carlson has advocated reducing the support of financial and military aid to Ukraine.
He has also reportedly referenced the area of Crimea as being Russian, despite it being illegally annexed by Putin in 2014.
British Empire "more than genocide"
Carlson earned the ire of Indians after he suggested the British Empire has civilised the country.
He said: "The British empire was more than just genocide. In fact, the British did not commit genocide, except, arguably, against the Dutch during the Boer War."
This is a false claim.
He praised the architecture of British colonisers, despite the numerous atrocities against people and the riches stolen from the country by the Empire.
“After 75 years of independence, has that country produced a single building as beautiful as the Bombay train station [the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus] that the British colonialists built? No, sadly it has not. Not one,” Carlson said.
“So despite what they may be claiming on Twitter tonight, the British empire was more than just genocide.”
Carlson also suggested the British "took their colonial responsibility seriously" and ruled with "decency unmatched by any empire in human history".
Political commentator Sunanda Vashisht said Carlson was "Supremely uninformed, racist and offensive commentary on colonialism in general and British Colonialism in particular".
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