Twitter owner Elon Musk is sharing some details about former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s decision to host a show on the platform.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Musk wrote, “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 [Community Notes].”
“I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules [and] rewards of all content creators,” he continued, adding, “Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (coming soon), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with the content.”
Finally, Musk said, “I hope that many others, particularly from the left, also choose to be content creators on this platform.”
On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever is said.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023
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
Earlier on Tuesday, Carlson released a roughly three-minute-long video where he shared his plans for the future.
He started by criticizing the state of journalism.
“The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can,” Carlson said. He added, “But there are always limits. You know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it. That’s not a guess, it’s guaranteed.”
He went on:
“Speech is the fundamental pre-requisite for democracy, that’s why it’s enshrined in the first of our constitutional amendments. Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world, the only one, is Twitter.”
Finally, Carlson shared, “Starting soon, we’ll be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter. We’ll be bringing some other things, too.”
“Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others. See you soon,” he added.
Puck News’ Dylan Beyers reported Carlson would be breaching the non-compete clause of his contract with Fox News and forfeiting at least $25 million by starting his new show.
However, Axios reports Carlson’s lawyers sent a letter to Fox News accusing the network of fraud and breach of contract before he announced his new show.
The outlet reported, “The lawyers accuse Fox executives… of making ‘material representations,’ or promises, to Carlson that were intentionally broken, constituting fraud.”
“Notably, the letter alleges Fox broke an agreement with Carlson not to leak his private communications to the media and not to use Carlson’s private messages ‘to take any adverse employment action against him,”‘ it added.
Carlson’s announcement of a new show comes two weeks after his departure from Fox News was revealed.