Shep Smith out at Fox News -- two days after Bill Barr's meeting with Rupert Murdoch

[George II]

Source: Raw Story

Shepard Smith, one of the few voices at Fox News who has been willing to be critical of President Donald Trump, is stepping down from the network.

Per Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple, Smith’s final show was on Friday and his termination is effective immediately.

Link to tweet

Smith’s departure comes less than two days after Attorney General Bill Barr held a mysterious meeting with Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch. There is no evidence linking Barr’s Murdoch meeting to Smith’s sudden departure, although critics of the White House have been raising questions about why the attorney general was meeting with a media mogul at a time when Trump has been openly critical of the network.

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/shep-smith-out-at-fox-news-one-day-after-bill-barrs-meeting-with-rupert-murdoch/

[ritapria]

1. So much for the Reports Fox News is turning on Trump

If he really left Fox News without pressure from on high , I'm really disappointed in his decision to leave …...The only semi-rational person still on Fox News is Chris Wallace - though he's far from perfect …..

[maxsolomon]

2. thicken that bubble, lachlan!

keep those inconvenient facts out!

[Tactical Peek]

3. His says he left them.

Link to tweet

/photo/1

[Texin]

10. It sounds as if he chose to leave rather than cave to what tRump muscled out of Murdoch.

We'll learn more soon I'm sure, but if Shep Smith is telling the truth and he shoved off, it's undoubtedly because word came down from Murdoch to be tRump's lickspittle or else. He chose to take the "or else" route himself rather than to agree to be forced to give the orange mafioso a tongue lavage every broadcast.

[aggiesal]

4. Fascism 1, Democracy 0 ...

I'm no fan of Faux Nooz, but government stepping in the 4th estate is overstepping.

[Thomas Hurt]

5. Donnie sent his attorney to have a coming to Trump discussion

they threw Shep to wolves to placate FF45.

[Mr.Bill]

6. He got resigned.

[Thekaspervote]

7. Whether he left or was fired...good for him!

[Jarqui]

8. If Napolitano follows, it will verify that they're up to: unfair and unbalanced nt

[Kid Berwyn]

9. "Nice network ya got here, Rupe. Be a shame if something were to happen to it."

“How much has the tax cut brought you?”

[MicaelS]

11. I think he finally had his fill.

I expect him to go to another network and start ripping Trump's ass.

[TexasTowelie]

13. It's either that or he can go on the speaking circuit.

Less hours and still enough pay that he will get along very well. There could also be a book deal in the works.

[BlueIdaho]

12. Impeach Crooked Bill Barr.

Forget Attorney Genera, Barr isn’t even acting like a lawyer - he’s acting like Trump’s bag man.

[world wide wally]

14. Isn't this part of the job an Attorney General always does?

[Mme. Defarge]

15. A purge of course.

[Mc Mike]

16. I'd like to see Shep play Rupert's head like a bongo, as he's leaving.

[Gore1FL]

17. I'm not shocked that Fox is going full nazi. It's what they do. nt

[justie18]

18. Plus

It has been reported that he was escorted out of the building. Not a friendly exit at all.

[Ligyron]

19. Does he have an NDA of some type I wonder?

Because if he starts opening his mouth on a media tour about the goings on in there you'd think they might have been smarter to give him a raise and bonus and kept him in the fold.

[OxQQme]

21. Very good question, Ligyron

Think of the light he could shine on that vipers nest if he's free and able to talk.
Like the talking head in V for Vendetta that flipped and spilled the beans.

[Cha]

37. I read he does.. for awhile.. not sure when

Shep can get back to work. Be interesting when we find out.

[BooScout]

20. It's being reported that security escorted him out...

...this departure was not friendly. Something happened for it to be this abrupt.

[Politicub]

25. Bill Barr met with Murdoch yesterday. That's what happened.

Fox is shedding all of the weight from its news operation so it can go all propaganda all the time.

[Cha]

35. trump was scared to death of Shep..

Link to tweet

[40RatRod]

22. Shep delivered facts to an audience at FOX...

... that do not understand what facts are.
Hope to see him a lot more at other net works.

[beachbumbob]

23. Will he end up at CNN or MSNBC?

Go back at direct competition with foxnews?

[sammythecat]

29. No, not for a good while anyway

His resignation included a non-competitive clause that says he can't work for a competing network for some unspecified period of time. This isn't unusual in situations like this.

[58Sunliner]

24. That doesn't look suspicious or corrupt.

[SCVDem]

26. Shep was smiling

like he left a pile of shit in Hannity and Tucker's desk.

[George II]

31. Maybe this:

[NurseJackie]

27. I wonder where he'll land.

CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, CBS streaming news, PBS, NPR... sky News?

[George II]

28. TYT.

[NurseJackie]

30. Oh, GAG me!

If he's desperate enough, I guess RT would be an option too.

Ugh.

[ck4829]

50. I think he's got a non-compete clause

[NurseJackie]

51. Yep, he alluded to that in his farewell words...

Yep, he alluded to that in his farewell words... but are things like that indefinite or forever? Perhaps just a year or two?

[djacq]

32. Because Fox News "is" State Television

Smith got smart and bailed.

Fair and Balance my A.

[SunSeeker]

33. Wow. So much for allowing a dissenting voice or two. nt

[Cha]

34. That totally must be a coincidence...

Link to tweet

This tweet has it faster but we get the idea Shep is persona non grata at fox 'cause trump is a gd criminal.

I'm guessing he has enough money to live on until he gets to work again.

[PatrickforO]

36. Wow. So one guy shows some integrity over there and he ends up

gone.

The walls are closing in on Trump, though. He and the rest of his evil cabal are on the way out. People are getting disgusted, and opinion is turning.

[ck4829]

49. Yep

[JohnnyRingo]

38. This is a warning shot.

I believe it's intended for anyone else at Fox who thinks they can tell Trump what he can or cannot do. You wouldn't want to draw a visit from Barr. Lookin' at you Napolitano.

[me_not_you]

45. /thread

[LawnKorn]

39. Maybe he can take Steve Kroft's place on 60 Minutes

He could cover non-political stories until his NDA expires.

[Evolve Dammit]

40. He was a good reporter and a human being on a network devoid of both attributes. Good luck Shep.

[ecstatic]

41. Based on the timeline, I think FNC asked Shep to compromise his integrity somehow,

he said, "Hell NO!" and immediately resigned. Or maybe, since it was Bill Barr that visited Murdoch, trumpRussiaCo had some dirt on Shep that they were threatening to release if he didn't tone down his reporting.

I think it's unfortunate because FNC viewers may not have any other reality checks on that network.

[YOHABLO]

42. It's pretty simple: Trump did not like his reporting and told them to let him go.

So they did. Of course Smith is going to say that he left on his own accord.

[McCamy Taylor]

43. Barr probably offered to go easy on Murdoch in a criminal case in exchange for favors

That is how mobsters do it.

[brooklynite]

44. UPDATE: He wasn't pushed; he jumped

Why Shep Smith finally walked out of Fox News for good

Last month Shep Smith decided that he had simply had enough.

With President Trump actively distorting the truth and many of his own colleagues helping him do it, the Fox News star prided himself on anchoring a newscast that countered the network's pro-Trump opinion shows.

The way Smith saw it, he was making sure that accurate information was getting on Fox's air.

"I wonder," he told a Time magazine reporter last year, "if I stopped delivering the facts, what would go in its place in this place that is most watched, most listened, most viewed, most trusted? I don't know."

But he had had enough. In September, according to a well-placed source, he went to Fox News management and asked to be let out of his long-term contract. Tensions with the opinion shows were the breaking point.

Executives at the network leaned on him to stay, but to no avail. On Friday afternoon he announced his departure on the air, then exited the building immediately, clearly emotional about saying goodbye to his television home of twenty years.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/11/media/fox-news-shepard-smith/index.html

[Bengus81]

47. I was surprised he wasn't canned for bashing Bush and his administration........

For having NO ONE in New Orleans days and days after Katrina hit. He was the only one on that POS news network that would call it like it truly WAS.

[ck4829]

48. Kick