Tucker Carlson’s decision to move his show to Twitter is proceeding apace, according to a Wednesday report — and the former Fox News host is literally taking an ax to his home studio after his former employer reportedly left it in a shambles.
According to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, Carlson and others are rebuilding the remote studio at his house in Maine after representatives from Fox News came in and dismantled the remote broadcast facility.
The report said “the studio — in a converted barn — will now have to be completely rebuilt after being left in shambles by the network’s crew.”
Carlson, who is under contract with Fox News until 2025 despite being ousted from his show in April, announced he was taking his show to Twitter on May 9.
“There aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech,” he said in a video announcing his comeback. “The last big one remaining in the world, the only one is Twitter, where we are now.”
“Twitter’s not a partisan site. Everyone’s allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing.”
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
According to The Washington Post, Twitter impresario Elon Musk said Carlson hadn’t signed a deal with the social media platform; although there may be ways to monetize his show, the key intent on Carlson’s part seems to be getting his voice out there.
In the weeks after his show was axed, it became clear Fox News would be more than happy to let Carlson sit out his $8 million-a-year contract until it expired in 2025 as opposed to buying him out and losing him to another outlet.
However, nothing’s stopping him from offering his commentary gratis on social media — although I’ll be darned if Fox News isn’t trying to stop that, too.
“Fox came in last week and got all their s*** out of” Carlson’s home studio in Woodstock, Maine, Patrick Feeney, who’s supervising the work, told the Daily Mail.
“They took the set and everything, all the equipment, the chairs, the desk, the fake walls, everything,” he said.
The move came just before Carlson was ready to start webcasting on the social media platform, the Daily Mail reported.
So, how to handle a setback like that? If you’re Carlson, you pick up an ax and start doing your part to get the studio back up and running.
EXCLUSIVE: Tucker Carlson is seen rebuilding his barn-turned-satellite studio https://t.co/aiuO0wYmMi pic.twitter.com/pcrKtb3asU
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) May 24, 2023
“There’s no hardware in place at all,” Feeney said. “There’s not even an infrastructure for a TV studio for a long time.”
If this seems a bit petty on Fox’s part, there’s a reason the network is taking a hard line against Carlson. He was the network’s most popular host, and his dismissal renewed criticism from conservatives who have become disenchanted with the network’s coverage during and after the 2020 election.
In addition, the panoply of reasons hypothesized from his sudden departure — which range from Rupert Murdoch taking issue with his Christian faith to the firing being an unwritten part of Fox’s settlement with Dominion Voting Systems — also have thrown additional egg on the network’s face.
And then there are reports Carlson is taking people with him to his independent venture; Variety reported last week that “[a] handful of Fox anchors have reached out to Carlson directly or had their surrogates contact him to say they are eager to join whatever venture he starts on Twitter when their contracts are up, according to sources.”
If they join him in Maine, at least they’ll have friendly neighbors. When the Daily Mail talked to residents of Woodstock in the days after Carlson’s firing, they had nothing but laudatory things to say about the former Fox News host.
“He is one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met who was so-called famous,” 75-year-old Neil Olsen said. “And I could just tell, he just wants to be a down-to-earth person. I haven’t met anyone who’s been around this guy that didn’t like him.”
Well, if there was ever a time to lend a down-to-earth neighbor a hand — particularly with some carpentry or wiring work — this is it.
From the looks of things, he’s getting ready for something big.
UPDATE, May 25, 2023: After publication of this article, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Western Journal that Fox News removed the equipment (which it owns) after building a custom studio at its expense, and it did not tear down the studio.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
