Fox Business star Lou Dobbs’ show “Lou Dobbs Tonight” has been abruptly canceled, according to media reports late Friday.
The Los Angeles Times first reported the cancellation on Friday afternoon. According to the Times, Dobbs, 75, is still “under contract at Fox News but he will in all likelihood not appear on the company’s networks again.”
Dobbs cancelled following lawsuit announcement
“Lou Dobbs Tonight” is a top-rated, long-running show that airs twice on weekdays on the Fox Business Network. Dobbs first joined the network in 2011 after a long stint at CNN. The show’s slots are now expected to be filled by a rotating series of hosts, the Times reported.
News of the network’s abrupt decision comes a day after the voting technology company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Dobbs and others at Fox on Thursday. The suit also named the Fox News Corporation, Fox News Channel, Fox hosts Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo, and lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants “decided to make Smartmatic the villain in their story” about potential fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
But a source told the Times that the decision was being considered before the Smartmatic lawsuit was announced.
“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business. This is part of those planned changes. A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future,” the Times quoted a representative as saying.
Fox also insists that it stands behind its coverage of the election challenges. “FOX News Media is committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion. We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit in court.”
Fox News shakeup
Still, this isn’t the first, and likely won’t be the last shakeup at Fox in the near future. Last month, host Martha MacCallum was demoted from her evening slot to the afternoon amid Fox’s post-election ratings decline.
The top brass at Fox News seem to be undecided about its place in the post-Trump media world — and plenty of conservative viewers are already switching channels to its competitors Newsmax or One America News.
Will Dobbs find his way to Newsmax as well? If he does, many conservatives will be cheering — including Trump.
“Lou Dobbs is and was great. Nobody loves America more than Lou. He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me,” Trump said Friday in a statement.
The post Fox News cancels ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’: report first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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