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Credit: Inside the MagicNews broke Monday morning that Fox News and fan-favorite host Tucker Carlson have parted ways. Carlson was the conservative political commentator and writer who hosted the nightly political talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News since 2016. Many fans of his show took to Twitter to blame those responsible for his termination. However, instead of blaming The Murdoch family, the ones who own and control Fox News, the viewers are mistakenly blaming Disney.
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To clear up the confusion, Rupert Murdoch and his family own the Fox Corp branch of Fox. Murdoch split Fox News from their entertainment and scripted division, 20th Century Fox. The goal was for the Fox Corp to focus more on media, news, and sports while leaving the entertainment department available for purchase. Think of it as a “Fox News sold separately” disclaimer. And in 2017, the Walt Disney Company took that offer by acquiring 21st Century Fox, which came with all its films and television IP, but not Fox News and Next Sports.
Long story short, Disney has never owned Fox News because it was never for sale. It’s a bit complicated, but the package that Disney purchased included the library of 20th Century Fox (which became 21st Century Fox in 2013), FX Network, Fox Sports International, a 73% stake in National Geographic, a 30% stake in Hulu, Fox Networks Group (which covers television programming in other countries), and the Indian media conglomerate Stars.
While it seems as though the “Fox” in Fox News is the biggest reason for confusion, Disney has been revamping their newly acquired assets from Fox to no longer feature the previous owners in the name. For example, 21st Century Fox is now 20th Century Studios. Unfortunately, there is still a huge mix-up for those unaware of who owns what.
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After Tucker Carlson parted ways with Fox News, viewers of Tucker Carlson Tonight jumped onto social media to blame the House of Mouse for no reason.
Disney has nothing to do with Fox News.
— highwayjill (@highwayjill1) April 24, 2023
Thankfully some educated folks on Twitter are correcting everyone’s mistakes. Although it could have been cleared up with a simple Google search, perhaps some still believe Disney could secretly own Fox News. Or at least that’s the type of stubbornness you might expect nowadays.
Disney could release receipts or contracts proving they don’t own Fox News, and some viewers would still find a way to blame them. Then again, maybe Disney is pulling the strings like the sneaky Geppetto that they are. We can let the people of Twitter decide.
Do you think Disney owns Fox News despite all the evidence that they don’t? Let us know in the comments.