Tucker Carlson revealed in a recent interview with Benny Johnson that he was “saved” by an offer from X CEO Elon Musk following his ouster from Fox News.
Not long after Carlson was fired from Fox, Musk reached out to him.
Tucker explained:
“Elon called me and said, ‘you should just bring the whole operation to X. Not for pay, but just use it like anyone else would, with the guarantee that he’s made to everyone that this is not gonna be governed by censorship and you can say what you think, as long as you’re not committing a crime.'”
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Carlson said Musk’s offer was a lifeline, preventing him from losing his professional momentum.
“I don’t know if you’ve been fired before, but this happened to me a couple firings ago where there’s this moment where you’re like, well, I guess I’ll just go fishing, you know what I mean?” he said.
“Or something else that’s not healthy and you lose your momentum and then you’re like, what am I doing with my life?”
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This is the reason why the Biden Administration is going after Elon.
— Robin Valencia (@rvalen81) December 13, 2023
He has allowed this platform to have Free Speech in a historic and heroic way.
The new arrangement allows Tucker to keep most of his team from Fox, keeping the production high quality.
But Carlson knew that sustaining a media operation without the help of advertising revenue would be a challenge.
Instead, Tucker opted for a subscription-based model.
Such an approach, Tucker said, protected cancellation and external pressure, giving him the freedom to report without censorship.
“You really have to find, at least if you’re me, another form of revenue and the most obvious is subscription because you’re invulnerable,” he said.
“It’s a fortress. They can’t dck with you at that point, and that’s of paramount importance to me because I’ve been dcked with a lot.”
Carlson is among many who are finding new ways to connect with their audiences, and bypassing corporate influences.
The transition hasn’t been without its challenges, though.
Earlier this month, Musk gave a blunt response to an advertiser boycott aimed at the site, telling Disney and other dissatisfied companies to stop advertising on X, adding, “Go f**k yourself.”
“Don’t advertise,” Musk stated.
“If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f**k yourself!”
“Is that clear? I hope it is. “Hey Bob [Iger], if you’re in the audience.”
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