Joe Rogan Shares His Thoughts on Tucker Carlson’s Next Move

Tucker Carlson (L) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, Fla., on Nov. 17, 2022. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images); Joe Rogan (R) attends the UFC 277 ceremonial weigh-in at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on July 29, 2022. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

In the wake of Tucker Carlson’s sudden departure from Fox News, podcaster Joe Rogan weighed in on the matter during his show Thursday, speculating about whether the cable channel locked the news personality down with some sort of “no-compete.”

“If I was a person in a position of power and a wildcard like Tucker Carlson got released from Fox News and maybe Rumble makes a deal with him or something like that. Do you have any ... idea how big that would be?” Rogan said during episode 1,977 of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

“But, if I was Fox News, that’s the last thing I would want,” he added. “So I would make sure that we have him locked up for the entire term of some contract, some no-compete, and pay him off. You'd be better off just giving him the same amount of money he made when he was on the air than you would if he was opposing you.”

Rogan was joined by David Smith, a New York-based stand-up comedian, who suggested that there may already be some clause in Carlson’s multi-year deal with Fox News, preventing him to speak out for a certain amount of time.

“I’m sure,” Rogan responded. “They’re smart. They’re not stupid,” he added, noting that it was “very shocking” to see Carlson leave.

Although Rogan said he has no idea about what happened behind the scenes with Carlson’s sudden departure, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) commentator said he believes Carlson is “designed for the internet,” adding that he’s confident the host will move to, or create, an independent platform.

“Unless they’ve paid him off,” Rogan then quickly indicated.

What’s Next for Carlson?

Carlson has yet to reveal the circumstances surrounding his Fox News exit and future plans, but his departure has sparked speculation about what he might do next.

Rumble has not signaled any interest in bringing Carlson to the platform. Chris Pavlovski, CEO of the online video-sharing service popular among conservatives, declined to comment on the matter during a “Twitter Spaces” on Monday.

However, several conservative news networks, including Newsmax, The Blaze, and One America News Network (OAN), have weighed the possibility of hiring the 53-year-old news personality.

“We would love to have you here, you won’t miss a beat, and together, two of us will tear it up—just tear it up,” Glenn Beck, who hosted a Fox News show before leaving and founding The Blaze, said on his Monday show.

Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News host who now hosts a satellite radio show/podcast, told Newsmax that Carlson might go the independent route, saying “He will no longer answer to a corporate master. He will be free to say whatever he wants to say, within the bounds of defamation law, of course, and he’ll be totally unleashed.”

Megyn Kelly speaks onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2018 at Ritz Carlton Hotel in Laguna Niguel, Calif., on Oct. 2, 2018. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Fortune

Bill O'Reilly, a former Fox News host who parted ways with the network in 2017, said during an interview with WMAL’s Larry O'Connor on Wednesday that the network did Carlson “a favor” by ousting him, adding: “He’s gonna make a lot of money.”

“Carlson is a talented broadcaster. He’s got a big following,” O‘Reilly said. “He’ll go into the independent news or analysis industry, of which I started six years ago. Ironically, it was to the week six years ago that I left Fox News. And he'll make a bloody fortune. Because he’s interesting to listen to.”

“They did him a favor,” he added. “I mean, my life is so much better now than it was six years ago when I had to deal with all this stuff.”

During Thursday’s podcast, Rogan echoed similar sentiments as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who suggested this week that Twitter could be a platform where Carlson could prosper.

In a statement on April 24, Fox News announced that it had parted ways with Carlson, who had led a popular primetime show on the network called “Tucker Carlson Tonight” since 2016. The conservative news commentary program had been one of the network’s most successful shows and regularly garnered more than 3 million viewers per episode.

From NTD News