One day after Fox and Lou Dobbs became defendants in a huge defamation suit, Dobbs’ evening FBN show has been canceled and he will no longer appear on the network.
According to the Los Angeles Times, which broke the story, tonight was the final airing of the Lou Dobbs Tonight show and it was guest hosted. “Dobbs, 75, remains under contract at Fox News but he will in all likelihood not appear on the company’s networks again,” the Times reports.
Fox is claiming the cancellation has nothing to do with the $2.7+ billion lawsuit it is facing over false claims that the Smartmatic voting technology company stole the election for Joe Biden (Fox hosts Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo were also named as defendants). More from the Times:
But people familiar with discussions say the decision to end Dobbs’ program was under consideration before the legal issues with Smartmatic arose. (Fox News said it stands by its 2020 election coverage and will “defend this meritless lawsuit in court.”)
“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business,” the representative said in a statement. “This is part of those planned changes. A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future.”
On the other hand, Fox was on notice about the potential lawsuit at least as early as December 10.
Another coincidence: Larry Kudlow was just hired at Fox Business Network to host a weekday show, beginning Monday, at an as-yet unnamed time. Dobbs’ departure opens up a nice slot for Kudlow.
My colleagues at Crooks and Liars say that Jeanine Pirro is rumored to be next.
Really, Dobbs, a long-time bigot and hate monger, should have been fired long ago. You can watch him call Democrats “enemies of the people” below, as one good example. It’s from FBN’s October 27, 2020 Lou Dobbs Tonight, via Media Matters.
Bob Roberts commented
2021-02-06 12:04:41 -0500
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Bemused commented
2021-02-06 05:34:52 -0500
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I guess the foxies felt that Smartmatic and Dominion would be too small to have the nerve to sue.
Let me know, will you?, if there’s a fund-raising effort to help them stay the course?
Bemused commented
2021-02-06 05:31:14 -0500
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Antoinette commented
2021-02-05 23:40:05 -0500
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More heads are going to roll out the door of Fox “News” Channel. It’s coming down the pipeline.
Don’t expect HanniePie the Long Island Omen or Tucky to defend Dobby and blast the Foxies. These frauds don’t want to lose their massive paychecks.
Dobby is still under contract with the Foxies which means he can’t work at another network until his contract expires. On the other hand, the suits and skirts may pay him off just to get rid of this clown.
The fun begins.
Coming down the pipeline:
1. Inside fighting at the Foxies.
2. Hosts frighten that they will be next on the chopping block.
3. Revenge!
4. The Foxies settle and they are steamed!
5. The cutbacks begin.
6. The senior executives issue a severe warning to hosts, producers, field producers, associate producers about stolen election stories.
7. Time to sell assets.
NOTE TO DOBBY
You can always work for Trumpy as his butler.
