- Tucker Carlson sent an email to his staff after his ousting from Fox News, a new book says.
- "I've never worked with better people in my life," Carlson said, according to Brian Stelter's new book.
Shortly after Tucker Carlson got the bombshell word that he was being fired from Fox News earlier this year, he sent a farewell email to his staff, telling them, "It looks unexpectedly bad," a new book says.
"I've never worked with better people in my life, and I don't expect I ever will," Carlson wrote to his staff, known as the "Tuckertroop," before his Fox email account was disabled, according to an excerpt from former CNN anchor Brian Stelter's new book, "Network of Lies," published in Vanity Fair on Tuesday.
Carlson, a far-right firebrand who was Fox News' top-rated host, added, "I'm a little unclear on what's going on right now, but at this point it looks unexpectedly bad," according to the book.
In a text message to Insider on Wednesday when asked for comment on Stelter's book and the alleged farewell email he sent to his staff, Carlson said: "Ha! Stelter is a sad little moron. He knows nothing."
In response, Stelter told Insider, "I know that Carlson will want to read the rest of my book. He can preorder a copy at NetworkOfLies.com."
In late April, Carlson was suddenly ousted from Fox News, with the conservative cable news giant announcing in a terse statement that Carlson and the network had "agreed to part ways."
But Carlson was blindsided by Fox News' decision to cut ties with him and was informed of the move just minutes before the network released the statement, previous reports said.
According to Stelter's new book, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott called Carlson around 11:15 a.m. on April 24 — shortly before the network made the announcement — and told him, "We're taking you off the air," without providing a reason.
Though Carlson was never given the chance to say goodbye to his audience, Scott offered him the opportunity to include his own comment in the press release, but he ultimately declined, according to Stelter's book.
"For a moment, he thought about saying yes; maybe he did want the breakup to sound mutually beneficial," Stelter says in his book, according to the published excerpt. "But he quickly snapped out of that. He was being dumped, and he wanted everyone else to know it too."
After his ouster, Carlson launched a show on Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter. The former Fox host took the provocative step of releasing his interview with former President Donald Trump just minutes before the network hosted the first GOP presidential debate of the cycle.
Carlson later sat down with Bill O'Reilly, who Fox also ousted, just before the network hosted the second debate.