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TOPLINE
Tucker Carlson, host of Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” has sold his stake in the Daily Caller, the conservative media site he cofounded in 2010.
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 29: Fox News host Tucker Carlson discusses ‘Populism and the Right’ during … [+]
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
KEY FACTS
“Neil [Patel] runs it. I wasn’t adding anything. So we made it official,” said Carlson in a Wednesday interview, telling the Wall Street Journal that he was “just too absorbed in what [he’s] doing.”
Carlson’s Daily Caller cofounder and the site’s current publisher Neil Patel told the Journal that Carlson sold him his one-third stake for an undisclosed sum.
Carlson had reportedly ceded editorial control over the site after getting a prime-time role on Fox News in 2017, and sold his financial stake last year, but only decided to announce it now.
The Daily Caller came under criticism in 2017 and 2018 for publishing articles by white supremacists, anti-semites and other far-right groups; the site says it’s since improved its vetting of writers.
Carlson himself has come under fire for remarks about the racial equality protests, saying: “This may be a lot of things, this moment we’re living through, but it is definitely not about black lives,” in the opening monologue of his Monday night broadcast.
Patel, who was born in India, says that the Daily Caller is the largest digital media outlet owned by a person of color.
Key Background
Carlson and Patel, who met as roommates at Trinity College, founded the Daily Caller in 2010 to serve as a conservative alternative to left-wing media sites. The site prides itself on its investigative reporting and journalistic scoops, notably publicizing Michael Flynn’s lobbying for a company tied to the Turkish Government while he was advising the Trump presidential campaign..
Carlson has achieved fame for controversial stances that critics have labeled as “racist” and “race-baiting,” among other things. He’s lost 70 advertisers due to his rhetoric, including Disney today. His latest target: Elmo, the Sesame Street puppet who decried racism in a family-oriented CNN town hall.
Further Reading
Fox News host talks race by calling out the real enemy: Sesame Street’s Elmo (Guardian)
Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Leaves the Daily Caller (Wall Street Journal)
The Daily Caller has published white supremacists, anti-Semites, and bigots. Here are the ones we know about. (Media Matters)
Tucker Carlson says protests are ‘definitely not about black lives,’ prompting backlash (Washington Post)
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