Tucker Carlson DENIES he is launching a TV show in Russia after an ad featuring the face and name of fired Fox News host appeared on state TV
- Firebrand Carlson, 54, said he had no idea his likeness was even being used until it was brought to his attention by a journalist
- It was spotted on Russian news channel Rossiya 24, insinuating that Carlson has found a new job in the Putin state.
Tucker Carlson has denied he is launching a television show in Russia after a bizarre ad featuring his face and name appeared on Vladimir Putin’s state TV.
Firebrand host Carlson, 54, said he had no idea his likeness was even being used until a journalist brought it to his attention.
According to BBC media monitoring expert Francis Scarr, a Russian advert showing Carlson’s face said: ‘The high-profile American presenter goes to another level. Here.’
It was spotted on Russian news channel Rossiya 24, insinuating that Carlson has found a new job in Putin’s state.
Another screenshot showed the word ‘Tucker’ followed by the phrase ‘on the weekend’ in Russian – along with a showreel of him speaking to the camera.
Firebrand reporter Tucker Carlson, 54, said he had no idea his likeness was even being used until a journalist brought it to his attention.
The presenter vehemently denied that he has a Russian show on television.
He told Insider: “I had never heard of the TV station before a reporter texted me about it this morning.”
When asked if he would ever consider working with Russian state television, Carlson replied, “Of course not. I’m an American.’
Father-of-four Carlson was abruptly fired in April from FOX News, where he raked in $77.5 million in advertising revenue last year.
He now plans to build his own media empire – and now hosts his own shows on X, formally known as Twitter. It’s unclear exactly how much he makes from his once-a-week episodes, but recent episodes have been viewed hundreds of millions of times.
He was paid around $20 million annually at Fox and had his contract renewed in 2021, but he reportedly only heard back ten minutes before Fox released a blunt three-paragraph statement.
“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the announcement read. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and before that as a contributor.”
Father of four Carlson was abruptly fired in April from FOX News, where he raked in $77.5 million in advertising revenue last year
Another screenshot showed the word “Tucker” followed by the phrase “on the weekend” in Russian
Carlson was not told why he was forced to leave by Fox CEO Suzanne Scott, who reportedly said the decision was made “from the top down.”
Carlson divided opinion — and drew fierce criticism, especially from the left — with his on-air polemics on everything from the 2020 presidential election to the Black Lives Matter movement.
But he wasn’t always known as a right-wing rabble-rouser. His career, which began in the mid-1990s, has included work for a wide range of publications, including a long stint at CNN, and he is also the author of several books.
As a print journalist, he wrote for publications such as The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and Esquire. But at the time, there were limits to who he was willing to work for.
In 1999, Carlson said he feared being written off as a “wingnut” if he joined The American Spectator, a conservative magazine. His TV break came in 2000 when he joined CNN and co-hosted The Spin Room.
Carlson was recognizable by his signature bow tie. He started wearing the ties in 1984 while he was still in high school — and only dropped them in the 2000s after a stranger who questioned the clothing shouted “obscenities” at him as he walked through New York’s Penn Station .