The Most Controversial Fox News Exits Of All Time

This article contains references to sexual assault.

Ever since its launch in 1996, Fox News has seen huge success in broadcasting news from a decidedly right-wing perspective. It's also fair to say that Fox News has experienced more than its fair share of scandals over the years, ranging from a blockbuster lawsuit over false claims of election fraud that resulted in the cable news outlet paying a settlement of more than a quarter-billion dollars, to numerous controversies stemming from the foibles of its on-air personalities.

By and large, these controversies have been far from minor. In fact, the media outlet has been forced to part ways with several of its biggest stars due to scandals of their own making; it's hardly an exaggeration to point out that Fox News has become the undisputed scandal king of cable news due to the sheer volume of disgraced former employees who've been shown the door due to bad behavior. 

It's been a lengthy list, and there have been some truly sordid allegations accompanying these various partings of the way. To learn more, read on for a look at the most controversial Fox News exits of all time.

Crowned Miss America in 1989, Gretchen Carlson went on to a career in local news before joining CBS News in 2000. She left CBS in 2005 to take a job with Fox News, quickly becoming one of the cable news network's most popular on-air personalities. 

It all came to a screeching halt in 2016 when Carlson exited Fox News and weeks later dropped a bombshell in the form of a sexual harassment lawsuit against the network and its president, Roger Ailes. She accused Ailes of a decade-long pattern of sexually harassing her in the workplace, even explicitly requesting that she engage in a sexual relationship with him. Ailes denied everything. "Gretchen Carlson's allegations are false," Ailes said in a statement to The New York Times, claiming her lawsuit was in retaliation for the network failing to renew her contract due to the "disappointingly low" ratings of her show. "This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive," Ailes added, "it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously."

As it turned out, Fox News offered no defense at all. Just two months after she filed her suit, Fox News caved by settling her complaint with a whopping $20 million settlement, in addition to a public mea culpa. "We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve," read a statement, via Vanity Fair. 

For Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit and the company's decision to quickly settle marked the beginning of his own professional demise. When the media outlet opened an internal investigation into Carlson's allegations about Ailes, multiple women — reportedly more than two dozen — provided similar accounts of sexual harassment, describing Ailes' predatory sexual advances in graphic detail. Among those women was popular news anchor Megyn Kelly, a revelation that forced Murdoch to take action he didn't necessarily want to take.

The same night that news of Kelly's allegations broke, Ailes was summarily ousted and banned from Fox News' New York headquarters, while his company phone and email were both suspended. The following day, Ailes formally resigned in a letter to Fox News' owner, billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch — mere weeks after Carlson filed her lawsuit. Murdoch ultimately paid him $40 million in severance while retaining him in an advisory capacity.

Less than a year after being pushed out of the network that he built, Ailes died at age 77 in May 2017. The sordid allegations that brought him down formed the basis of the 2019 feature film "Bombshell" and TV miniseries "The Loudest Voice," with Ailes portrayed by John Lithgow and Russell Crowe, respectively.

Roger Ailes' ouster as Fox News' chairman shone the spotlight on the cable news net's top-rated anchor, Bill O'Reilly. In April 2017, The New York Times published a bombshell exposé, revealing that five different women had accused the host of "The O'Reilly Factor" of sexual harassment. Each of the women was paid a cash settlement for remaining silent, with a staggering $13 million paid out in total. 

While Fox News initially backed its biggest star, that support didn't last long. Two weeks later, Fox News cut ties with O'Reilly. "After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the Company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," 21st Century Fox, the network's parent company, said in a statement to Variety.

Upon his firing, O'Reilly also issued a statement, maintaining his innocence while implying he'd been targeted and smeared with false accusations because of his status as a public figure. "It is tremendously disheartening that we part ways due to completely unfounded claims," he said, as reported by Deadline. "But that is the unfortunate reality many of us in the public eye must live with today." A few months later, O'Reilly made the evidence-free claim that his ouster was the result of a nefarious and shadowy left-wing conspiracy intended to silence conservative voices. "If you look at the totality, this was a hit job — a political and financial hit job," he stated during a September 2017 appearance on "Today."

Mere months after Bill O'Reilly's unceremonious firing, "The Fox News Specialists" host Eric Bolling followed him out the door. According to a HuffPost investigation, two female colleagues claimed Bolling had texted them each a photo of male genitalia. The women insisted they'd done nothing to solicit the texts, and that they found the whole thing to be more than a little disturbing. "We were just informed of this and plan to investigate the matter," a Fox News rep told the outlet. Shortly after, Bolling was suspended, and an investigation into the allegations was launched.

Days after HuffPost's report was published online, Bolling tweeted his thanks to those who'd offered their support. "I look forward to clearing my name asap," added Bolling, who responded by launching a $50-million defamation lawsuit against the journalist who wrote the story, Yashar Ali. Ali's attorney fired back in a scathing letter that the journalist shared via X (formerly known as Twitter). "The lawsuit Eric Bolling filed is utterly devoid of merit, and we demand you dismiss it immediately," wrote Ali's lawyer, Patricia L. Glaser.

When the dust settled and Fox News concluded its investigation, Bolling was out. "Fox News Channel is canceling the 'Specialists,' and Eric Bolling and Fox have agreed to part ways amicably," a network rep said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. Bolling eventually wound up as an anchor on far-right cable news outlet Newsmax, exiting in May 2024.

Tucker Carlson was a veteran of CNN and MSNBC before joining Fox News in 2009 as a political analyst. He went on to host his own namesake show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," in 2016. That ride came to an end in April 2023, with the Los Angeles Times reporting that the host of Fox News' highest-rated show was ousted at the behest of Fox News' owner, Rupert Murdoch. "Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," read a statement from the network, which gave no reason for Carlson's firing. As a result, various theories were floated, tying Carlson's exit to a discrimination lawsuit from a producer or to Fox News' $787.5 million settlement in the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over the network's false claims that Dominion had committed election fraud.

The impetus behind Carlson's firing became evident in Brian Stelter's book about Fox News, "Network of Lies." According to an excerpt published in Vanity Fair, Stelter came to determine the main reason Carlson was fired was Carlson himself. "In truth, Carlson had alienated so many people, instigated so many internal and external scandals, fanned so many flames of ugliness, that his firing was inevitable," wrote Stelter. As one of Carlson's producers told Stelter, "It was always going to end badly."

Carlson subsequently took his schtick to YouTube, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testifying under oath that Carlson's new media venture was funded by Moscow and intended to destabilize Western democracy. Following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Russian media reports claimed that Carlson was serving as a "carrier pigeon," relaying messages between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump.

Fox News' Ed Henry was suspended back in 2016 after a tabloid published a detailed account of the married journalist's affair with an exotic dancer in Las Vegas. While he was eventually brought back on the air, he faced an even bigger scandal in 2020, when Henry — then anchor of "America's Newsroom" — was accused of sexual misconduct by a former co-worker. According to Fox News, Henry was suspended, and an independent law firm was brought in to investigate. The findings of that investigation led to Henry's dismissal. Shortly after his exit, Fox News and Henry were sued by former producer/on-air personality Jennifer Eckhart, who accused Henry of raping her. Henry's lawyer insisted that the sexual relationship between Henry and Eckhart was consensual, while reps for Fox News insisted they'd already taken appropriate action by firing Henry as soon as learning of Eckhart's allegations. Henry responded by launching a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its chief executive, Suzanne Scott, claiming that she'd defamed him in the statement the network issued about his firing, claiming that he'd engaged in "willful sexual misconduct."

Henry was later hired by Real America's Voice, before being yanked off the air in 2023 when he was arrested and charged with DUI. He was then offered a job by Newsmax, with employees reportedly expressing outrage over the prospective hiring of an accused sex offender and suspected drunk driver. "I can't imagine why anyone would want to hire him," an anonymous staffer told Mediaite. "This guy is a walking lawsuit." In 2024, a second woman came forward to accuse Henry of sexual assault.

Kimberly Guilfoyle's rise and fall in Trump Land has been well documented, but it's easy to forget that the ex-girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. was once an on-air personality with Fox News before being dumped under shady circumstances. In July 2018, Guilfoyle — who'd been with the cable news outlet since 2006 — had parted ways with Fox News.

While the reason given at the time was that Guilfoyle wanted to hit the campaign trail in order to spend more time with her beau, an alternative reason for her split from Fox News eventually surfaced. That came courtesy of HuffPost's Yashar Ali — who'd previously broken the news about Eric Bolling's lewd texting and unveiled another exposé, this one about Guilfoyle. 

According to Ali, the decision to leave Fox News was not Guilfoyle's. In fact, he reported that the circumstances surrounding her departure were remarkably similar to those of Bolling, in that she was also alleged to have texted photos of male genitalia to colleagues. In addition, Ali claimed that there had been HR complaints about Guilfoyle's abusive behavior to members of the hair and makeup team — all of which she vehemently denied. "Any accusations of Kimberly engaging in inappropriate work-place conduct are unequivocally baseless and have been viciously made by disgruntled and self-interested employees," a rep for Guilfoyle responded in a statement via HuffPost. 

Glenn Beck was a popular right-wing commentator on CNN's sister network, Headline News, until being recruited by Fox News in 2008. It wasn't long before Beck became Fox News' most controversial personality, thanks to some truly outrageous utterances. However, he really topped himself during a July 2009 appearance on "Fox and Friends" when he weighed in about President Barack Obama. "This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy — over and over and over again — who has a deep-seated hatred for white people, or the white culture," Beck said, later doubling down by adding, "This guy is, I believe, a racist."

Dissing America's first Black president as a racist predictably resulted in outrage, forcing Beck to do some serious backpedaling when he was subsequently interviewed by fellow Fox News host Chris Wallace. "It shouldn't have been said; it was poorly said; I have a big fat mouth sometimes, and I say things," Beck sheepishly said, as reported by Politico.

While he remained at Fox News, the damage from that and other incendiary comments proved to be long-lasting. Beset with protests and boycotts, advertisers — eventually hundreds of them — pulled their spots from Beck's show, which was widely viewed as becoming increasingly toxic. In 2011, the cable news net eventually pulled the plug, issuing a press release announcing Beck's departure from the network.

Longtime Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera first joined the network as a war correspondent during the Iraq war and remained a stalwart at the cable news net ever since. Or at least that was the case until he was shown the door in 2023, revealing that he was fired from "The Five" after more than two solid decades with the cable news outlet. 

Appearing on Chris Cuomo's NewsNation show, "Cuomo," Rivera complained that there simply was no longer a place for him there. "I enjoyed doing the program, but the program apparently didn't enjoy me," he said. In a previous interview on "The View," Rivera alluded to a "toxic relationship" with a co-host (via USA Today), but didn't specify whom (although USA Today pointed to his frequent on-air clashes with Greg Gutfeld). "If you fired me from the No. 1 [Fox News] show, then I'm going to quit," Rivera said, recounting what he'd told network executives. "I thought it was very unfair that in our disputes, he was always favored."

As Rivera told Cuomo, he was presented with some other opportunities, but none that particularly appealed to him. "After they fired me, they gave me a plethora of options, other programs I could do ... but I said, 'No, I don't want to do that,'" he explained.

A fixture on CNN since its launch in 1980, in 2009, Lou Dobbs made the jump to Fox News' sister network, Fox Business. Dobbs wound up becoming one of television's most ardent supporters of Donald Trump and used his TV show to spout dubious claims of election fraud, including false assertions that two manufacturers of voting software — Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic — had rigged the 2020 presidential election in Joe Biden's favor. Dobbs' conspiracy theories, in fact, were at the very heart of Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox News, which ultimately resulted in Fox News paying a settlement of $787 million. 

In February 2021, the powers that be at Fox News decided to abruptly cancel "Lou Dobbs Tonight," declaring he would not be returning to the airwaves at all. Interestingly, the cancellation came less than 24 hours after Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News and Dobbs. Appearing on CNN's "Reliable Sources," NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik observed that Dobbs appeared to be Rupert Murdoch's sacrificial lamb in a repeat of what took place about 10 years earlier when Murdoch fired those implicated in the phone-hacking scandal involving his British tabloids. "They would throw somebody over the side and see if that was enough," Folkenflik said, as reported by CNN. "This is an effort to cauterize the wound to distance Fox from this feverish conspiracy theory."

Dobbs never did make a television comeback after being axed by Fox News. In July 2024, he died at the age of 78.

Pete Hegseth was a former military man before becoming a Fox News personality. He exited Fox News in late 2024, one of the rare cases in which a Fox News star parted ways with the network of his own volition. In fact, he quit his Fox News role only because president-elect Donald Trump had nominated him to be America's next secretary of defense. 

Initially, Hegseth's nomination was ridiculed due to his utter lack of experience when it came to running the Pentagon. "He has no particular experience or expertise that would lead any sane person to put him in charge of America's military, including the largest governmental bureaucracy in the world," wrote former U.S. Army officer Brandon Friedman in an MSNBC op-ed.

Soon after, though, some deeply disturbing allegations came to the forefront that further lessened the odds that he might actually get the job: he'd reportedly been accused of sexually assaulting a woman and then paid her off to ensure she'd keep quiet about it. Even more was revealed when the police report was released, including the alleged victim's assertion that Hegseth had drugged her and then raped her, despite her protestations. After some ups and downs — and despite even more damaging revelations — Hegseth's chances of being confirmed as secretary of defense seemingly strengthened. As of December 2024, his confirmation remained uncertain.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).