Leaked Video Shows Tucker Carlson Criticizing Fox Streaming Platform

Tucker Carlson speaks during the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Feszt in Esztergom, Hungary, on Aug. 7, 2021. Janos Kummer/Getty Images

Tucker Carlson, prior to leaving Fox News, appeared to have critical things to say about Fox News’ Fox Nation streaming service, according to a leaked video.

“Nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks,” Carlson said in the video, later adding, “The site doesn’t work.”

The video, obtained by Media Matters, a politically left-leaning media watchdog group, showed Carlson in a phone call with an unknown male while on the set of “Tucker Carlson Today.”

The two were discussing an arrangement to interview controversial right-wing personality Andrew Tate. The interview was ultimately conducted in August 2022 on “Tucker Carlson Today.”

“I don’t want to be a slave to Fox Nation, which I don’t think that people watch anyway,” Carlson told the unknown person on the call.

Fox Nation, according to its own website, is an “exclusive streaming service brought to you by Fox News, with entertaining and informative shows that highlight the unique stories, history, and people of America.”

“Nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks,” Carlson said of Fox Nation in the leaked video. “I’m just frustrated with it. It’s hard to use that site. I don’t know why they’re not fixing it. It’s driving me insane.

“And they’re making Lifetime movies. But they don’t work on the infrastructure of the site. It’s crazy. And it drives me crazy because we’re doing all this extra work and no one can find it. It’s unbelievable, actually. I don’t know who runs that site.”

The video also showed Carlson saying: “We’re like working like animals to produce all this content, and the people in charge of it, whoever that guy is, whatever his name is, like, they’re ignoring the fact that the site doesn’t work.

“And I think it’s like a betrayal of our efforts. That’s how I feel. So I, of course, I resent it.”

Andrew Tate Interview

Carlson also told the unknown person that he would rather “dump the whole thing on YouTube,” referring to the interview with Tate.

Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

The interview with Tate in August 2022 mainly focused on Tate’s being banned from several social media platforms—including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok—amid criticism over the social media influencer’s commentary, which some media outlets derided as being misogynistic, although Tate denies this.

After Carlson aired part of the interview on his Fox News show, a chyron pops up that reads “Go watch the full Andrew Tate interview on Fox Nation right after this show.”

“Tucker Carlson Tonight” was among cable TV’s top-rated programs for years, and was a leading program among those aged 25–54. Carlson was the host of the show, which aired its first episode in November 2016.

According to Nielsen data shared by Fox News, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” captured the highest audience on cable TV in March, averaging 3.251 million viewers per show.

But on April 24, Fox News announced that it had “parted ways” Carlson, without providing a reason for the split, after Carlson’s last show aired on April 21.

“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” said a news release from Fox.

Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner stated later on April 24 that Carlson and Fox News “mutually agreed” to part ways.

Since then, ratings for “Fox News Tonight,” the show that replaced the 8 p.m. time slot for “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” have continued to tumble.