MEGHAN MCCAIN: Here’s the truth behind Tucker Carlson’s reckless fall from Fox News stardom 

As the dust settles on one of the media industry’s biggest bombings in years, I wonder: Did Tucker Carlson actually want to be fired from Fox News?

Just a few days after Monday’s Cable News Massacre, there’s a lot of head scratching. Carlson and CNN poster Don Lemon were released on the same day, less than an hour apart, and that got tongues wagging.

At least Lemon’s firing made sense. Known for his dramatic, empty progressivism and deeply unserious commentary, Don caused drama and embarrassment for his colleagues and company for years to come.

In fact, it was recently reported that decades ago Lemon sent veteran journalist Kyra Phillips, a dear friend of mine, with threatening text messages from an anonymous phone number in a fit of apparent jealousy. CNN denied it happened.

I have other friends who worked alongside Don and the nicest thing they have to say about him is that he is a huge selfish misogynist. So no big surprise, right?

But Tucker is a different story. Say what you like about his political and revisionist take on the January 6 riots, but he was loved within the walls of 1211 6th Avenue, the headquarters of the Fox News Channel.

That is – until recently.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Fox News lawyers tried to prevent Tucker’s private messages from being revealed in legal documents related to that costly lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.

Tucker reportedly called a senior Fox News executive “the c-word.” But when the Fox News host heard his vulgar insult was swept under the carpet, he was angry about it.

“He wanted the world to know what he said about the director,” the WSJ reported.

Ouch. Not exactly Mr. Popular’s behavior.

Then there are the allegations from one of his former producers, Abby Grossberg. She claims everything from blatant misogyny to anti-Semitism to bullying.

The ex-Booker says her workspace on the first day of her tenure at Team Tucker was covered in photos of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi wearing a one-piece plunging swimsuit.

Grossberg also claimed she was once called into Tucker’s executive producer’s office and asked outright if Fox News host Maria Bartiromo was having an affair with Congresswoman Kevin McCarthy.

Aside from that, she says the Carlson Crew made her life hell and drove her to a mental breakdown.

To be clear, these are accusations. And Grossberg may have her day in civil court. But I’m sure Tucker broke the norms of Fox News corporate culture.

He went after my husband, who is a Fox News contributor, after Ben criticized the Republicans for blocking McCarthy’s election to become House Speaker.

On his primetime show, Tucker played a clip of Ben’s performance on a Fox Business show, then called him a “buffoon” and an “idiot.” That’s just clearly out of bounds.

From my time at Fox News, I know it’s a company that values ​​loyalty and camaraderie between talents. When I started my time at 1211, I was told by then-Fox News Co-President Bill Shine that peer opinions should be respected. As they say, there’s no shooting in the tent.

For Tucker, that clearly went out the window. That was seriously reckless behavior.

It’s certainly not hard to suggest that the “e-word” had something to do with his epic fall from the top spot of primetime stardom. And I mean ego.

He began his career on Fox News as a conservative crazy dad while hosting the weekend edition of Fox and Friends and later moved to primetime to take over the 9 p.m. hour after Megyn Kelly disembarked for a short-lived stint at NBC News .

Then Tucker really took off after cable news giant Bill O’Reilly was fired over sexual harassment allegations.

In the coveted 8 p.m. timeslot, Tucker quickly became a populist icon, earning a reputation for saying what many believed was the unspeakable.

In that light, it’s understandable that he thought he was above the rules.

Sources claim he “had come to believe he was bigger than the network — a mortal sin in Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch’s empire — and was operating more and more like his own island.”

I do not doubt it. But still it makes no sense.

Tucker is not a dummy. He must have been aware that those who think they fly higher than the Murdochs will be grounded.

This is the same old story whether it’s on Fox News or elsewhere. Just ask Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann or Chris Cuomo. Cable news stars grow big – their heads expand to gigantic proportions – and then pop.

So again, I ask: What was he thinking?

Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair, a long-time and fairly reliable chronicler of all things Fox News, reports that Tucker was blindsided by his firing, and he very well could be.

But possibly, whether he consciously recognized it or not, Tucker wanted out.

Would Tucker have had a ‘career death wish’?

He has now been fired by all three major cable news networks: Fox, CNN, and MSNBC. That’s a pattern. And let’s be honest. It’s not a bad way to go.

He earned an estimated $20 million a year. He owns two beautiful homes in Maine and Florida, where he was recently caught by DailyMail.com photographers riding his wife in a golf cart to dinner – a grin that stretches from ear to ear.

Is this the end for Tucker? I doubt it.

A significant portion of his huge audience will follow him and he co-founded a news website. I suspect he will be back – somewhere.

Sure, he got fired from Fox News, but maybe – just maybe – he wanted it that way.