Fox News would rather continue to pay out Tucker Carlson’s $25 million-a-year contract than allow him to speak freely on Twitter. 

The network claimed Carlson violated the non-competence clause of his contract with Fox News after Carlson released the first episode of his new show, Tucker on Twitter. (RELATED: Life After Tucker Carlson: Is Fox News Finished?) 

Fox let Carlson go without terminating his contract, and the non-competence clause between Fox News and Carlson stipulates that Carlson cannot work for a competing media outlet prior to the end of the contract. 

Fox has said it will sue Carlson for what it claims is a breach of his contract, which ends in 2025. The network also offered Carlson millions to finish out the contract with Fox without working for a competing outlet. 

All the while, Fox’s viewership plummeted after letting Carlson go. Clearly, Fox’s bottom line is influence, not profit.

According to an Axios report, a Fox executive claimed Carlson is “prohibited from rendering services of any type whatsoever, whether ‘over the internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.” 

Fox may not have much of a case against Carlson, however, as Carlson did not sign a new contract with Musk or Twitter. 

Referencing the issue in early May, Musk clarified: “I … want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators.”

On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever is said.

And, of course, anything misleading will get @CommunityNotes.

I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is… https://t.co/0TMjuYnKUp

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023

Further, Carlson’s legal team claimed that he did not violate the contract because Twitter does not constitute a platform in direct competition with Fox News.

Carlson also accused Fox of a breach of contract prior to the outlet’s threats to sue.

The aforementioned Axios report states that Carlson’s lawyer claimed Fox committed fraud by violating an agreement not to leak Carlson’s private communications.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald interpreted Fox’s actions against Carlson as a political tactic.

“This is pathetic of Fox. They fired Carlson, and now their position is: he’s not allowed to speak. He didn’t go to a competing network,” Greenwald tweeted. “He has no contract with Twitter. He’s just speaking on social media. And to Fox, that’s cause to threaten to sue him. They want him quiet.”

If Fox succeeds in silencing Carlson, he will be unable to produce Twitter content until after the next presidential election in 2024.

Emma Verrigni is a rising sophomore at Hillsdale College studying history and journalism. A member of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class, Emma enjoys reading philosophy and the news.