Conservative commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is launching a new version of his show on Twitter, he said Tuesday.
Speaking in a nearly three-minute video posted on the platform, Carlson gave few details about the show and offered a familiar criticism of the news media.
Carlson called the platform the “last big one remaining in the world” for free speech.
“Twitter isn’t a partisan site,” he said. “Everyone is allowed here.”
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said Carlson would be subject to the same “rules & rewards” of all users, including subscription revenue and “Community Notes,” the platform’s content moderation feature.
“I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever,” Musk said.
Carlson and Fox “agreed to part ways” last month for reasons that neither he nor the network specified after the network announced it had agreed to pay nearly $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems after the company sued Fox for defamation.
A Fox spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Carlson’s lawyer also did not respond to a request for comment.
“Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which had aired on Fox News since 2016, was one of the most-watched shows on American cable news.
Carlson was known for promoting conspiracy theories and disinformation, such as the racist “great replacement” theory, found on fringe sites like 4chan. Carlson also used his platform to target people.
A former producer for Carlson, Abby Grossberg, has alleged in a lawsuit that he fostered a work environment that “subjugated women based on vile sexist stereotypes, typecasted religious minorities and belittled their traditions, and demonstrated little to no regard for mental health.”
A spokeswoman for the network has disputed Grossberg’s claims, saying they are “riddled with false allegations.”
Carlson is moving to Twitter as Musk’s public persona has veered sharply to the right and he has dabbled in fringe conspiracy theories in recent years, as detailed in his prolific tweeting.
On Tuesday, Musk pushed a discredited theory that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg swung the 2020 election and cast doubt on reporting that showed the man who recently killed eight people at a Dallas-area mall was linked to extremist social media posts.
Daniel Arkin contributed.
