Longtime Fox News personality Lou Dobbs is on his way out.
Fox News Media has canceled his show, “Lou Dobbs Tonight”, according to a report.
The termination of Dobbs’ program comes just one day after voting software company Smartmatic filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Dobbs, Fox News, fellow on-air personalities, and some of Trump’s past and present legal counsel.
The 285-page lawsuit, which was filed in the New York State Supreme Court, specifically accuses Giuliani, Powell, Fox News, and hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro of lying about Smartmatic to convince the public that the 2020 presidential election was plagued with fraud.
“Defendants did not want Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to win the election. They wanted President Donald Trump and Vice President Michael Pence to win re-election. Defendants were disappointed. But they also saw an opportunity to capitalize on President Trump’s popularity by investing a story,” the lawsuit says.
Some familiar with the behind-the-scenes decision making at Fox News have said ending Dobb’s program was already under consideration prior to the lawsuit.
Fox News’ issued a statement about Dobb’s firing:
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.
Dobbs, 75, launched his television career in Phoenix in the mid-’70s where he served in the anchor seat.
In 1980, Dobbs was recruited by Ted Turner to join CNN as its chief economics correspondent when the network first launched. He eventually became the president of CNN’s financial news division and anchored various financial programs for the network.
In the late 90’s Dobbs left the network after clashing with CNN President Rick Kaplan over editorial differences. Dobbs believed Kaplan, a friend of then-President Bill Clinton, was “pushing” Clinton stories and operating in a “clearly partisan” manner.
After a brief stint away from the network, Dobbs returned for another 9-year run with the network before becoming a radio host.
He made a return to television with Fox Business Network in 2011 which gave birth to the now-defunct program Lou Dobbs Tonight.
