Carlson’s attorney Bryan Freedman told the outlet that the network’s efforts to halt his Twitter show would brush up against his First Amendment rights.
Fox News has informed attorneys for former network personality Tucker Carlson that he breached his contract with the network by launching his own show on Twitter.
“This evening we were made aware of Mr. Tucker Carlson’s appearance on Twitter in a video that lasted over 10 minutes,” reads the letter, which Axios obtained. “Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Mr. Carlson’s ‘services shall be completely exclusive to Fox.'”
The letter quotes the former host’s contract, which says he is “prohibited from rendering services of any type whatsoever, whether ‘over the internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.'”
The network parted ways with Carlson earlier this year in the aftermath of a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, which had sued the network for defamation.
Carlson on Tuesday posted the first episode of his Twitter show to the social media platform. The roughly 10-minute clip mostly focused on the recent destruction of the Nova Kakhova dam in Southern Ukraine, which Carlson suggested was likely the result of a Ukrainian operation.
The letter sets up a likely legal battle between the parties. Carlson’s attorney Bryan Freedman told the outlet that the network’s efforts to halt his Twitter show would brush up against his First Amendment rights.
“Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds. 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,” Freedman said.
By Ben Whedon
