After a “news flash” after Kimmel was fired, he went back to Carlson, joking that the Fox News host ordered a sausage and pineapple pizza on his last episode of the network.
“He should have been fired on the spot for that,” Kimmel said.
Carlson’s “probably doesn’t poison the brains of older people,” Kimmel said. “Now the question is, where will he do it? Will he go to the OAN? [One America News]Will he go to Newsmax?”
To send him “on his way,” comedian Carlson introduced a sizzle reel of highlights, including “one last dance with one of the nastiest Thai Tuckers ever to appear on American television.”
On “The Daily Show,” guest host Desi Lidick said, “Carlson spent years saying Mexicans are coming to take our jobs” but was kicked out by Rupert Murdoch. “They should have been worried about Australia,” he said, adding that the move would “leave a huge white power vacuum at Fox”.
“Daily Show” reporter Carlson said he’s a little nervous about what he’ll do next. “You know, it’s like this after Papa John’s got fired,” referring to the pizza company’s founder, John Schnatter, who stepped down after making controversial statements. “You know he was working on a pizza place somewhere that gives you even worse diarrhea.”
CNN “fired Don Lemon after 17 New Year’s Eve blackouts,” Lidick said.
‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’
Seth Meyers said he was glad Carlson was gone, but admitted there was a problem: “At least when he had a show we knew where he was.”
Meyers said Lemon was fired for sexist conduct. He joked: “Anybody have an opening for sex? Oh, right.”
He turned to Carlson in his “A Closer Look” segment. He said the Fox News anchors who read the news about Carlson’s departure didn’t really like Carlson. “Wow, I’ve seen very convincing readings on North Korean television,” Meyers said.
Meyers said Carlson made “bad assumptions” designed to sound like he was asking questions, which Meyers said was dangerous.
‘The Late Late Show with James Gordon’
On James Corden’s last episode of “The Late Late Show,” he also made one of the biggest media headlines of the day, “Who Needs Enemies on Fox & Friends?” He joked.
Carlson — who has worked at MSNBC, CNN and Fox News — is out of options, he said. “Soon he’s going to watch the Weather Channel and say hurricanes are caused by drag queens.” He briefly mentioned Lemon’s ouster from CNN.
Earlier in the evening, cable news programs covered the news with a very serious tone.
All eyes were on prime-time Fox News to see if the channel’s anchors and anchors would mention Carlson during their shows. Brett Baier’s show didn’t mention Carlson, nor did it mention “Jesse Waters Primetime.”
But “Fox & Friends” host Brian Guillemette filled Carlson’s old primetime slot. Addressed the former host outside the gate.
“As you may have heard, Fox News and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. My best wishes to Tucker,” he said. “I am and always will be best friends with Tucker.”
On “Hannity,” host Sean Hannity didn’t mention Carlson, but did have a segment about Lemon that he deemed “fake news.”
On Newsmax’s “Greg Kelly Reports,” former President Donald Trump said he was surprised by Carlson’s departure from Fox News, calling the former anchor a “very good man” with “very high ratings” who was “terrible to me.”
The former president said he did not know if Carlson was fired or left because he wanted “free rein.”
Anderson Cooper led his CNN show with Carlson’s ouster, discussing the news with guests who speculated that the Dominion case may have played a role in the move. Cooper also wondered about the fate of other Fox News hosts implicated in the Dominion case.
“I can’t imagine Maria Bartiromo is sleeping well tonight,” Cooper said. “I mean, if they’re willing to let him go with Tucker Carlson’s ratings, why don’t they let her go?”
At the end of the segment on Carlson, Cooper referred to Lemon’s firing and reiterated the company’s statement: “Dan will always be a part of the CNN family.”
MSNBC star Rachel Maddow began her 9pm show by placing Carlson in the larger context of right-wing media figures from the 1930s, including radio journalist Father Charles Coughlin and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
He said Carlson has less influence than any of them as the No. 1 conservative firebrand’s role has waned. Now, he said, conservatives have removed Carlson for some reason.
“They’ve lost one of their episodic dominant figures,” Maddow said.
Ali Velshi took on MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell at 10 p.m. when he said Carlson’s ouster was good for democracy, but Fox News could replace him with someone more radical because that’s what the business model dictates. NBC disinformation correspondent Ben Collins said during the show that Carlson often mined the hate-filled online forum 4chan for content.
“Tucker is basically a mixed character of a 4chan” user, Collins said.
