FOX is threatening to sue Tucker Carlson for breach of contract over his new show on Twitter. Tucker on Twitter launched its first episode this week and it generated huge viewership numbers.

The truth is that Tucker has the ability to attract a much larger audience on social media than he did on television for FNC, even though his show was the cable new network’s highest rated show. His fans are loyal and they will follow him wherever he goes. FNC must have known that when they decided to make him a scapegoat for the settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, in my opinion. He is just as successful away from FNC as he was with the network, if not more so.

The first episode, in case you are one of the few people who has not seen it, is 10 minutes long and done in monologue style. Carlson addresses Ukraine, UFOs and the mistake people make when they rely on cable news for their information. It has been viewed more than 80 million times, and counting. In comparison, his show on FNC averaged 3.1 million viewers each weeknight during the weeks leading up to his firing.

When he was ousted at FNC, he took the opportunity to move to doing a show on Twitter. Now FOX’s lawyers have sent a letter to Carlson’s lawyers saying he is in breach of his contract for starting a new show. He is still under contract with FOX until January 2025, after the election.

Carlson’s lawyers argue that he is utilizing his First Amendment rights by doing the show on social media – he is voicing his opinions on the platform, just like other Twitter users do. It is reported that his lawyers are looking for a way out of his $25M per year contract with FOX. Because of the current contract, he is unable to move to another network to work.

In the statement to Axios, Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, accused Fox brass of engaging in hypocrisy by silencing Carlson, pointing to how the company claims to ‘defend its very existence on freedom of speech grounds.’

‘Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events,’ Freedman wrote in he letter viewed by Axios.

He reportedly added: ‘This evening we were made aware of Mr. Tucker Carlson’s appearance on Twitter in a video that lasted over 10 minutes.’

Quoting Carlson’s contract, the letter continues: ‘Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, Mr. Carlson’s ‘services shall be completely exclusive to Fox.’

It adds that Carlson’s contract says he is ‘prohibited from rendering services of any type whatsoever, whether ‘over the internet via streaming or similar distribution, or other digital distribution whether now known or hereafter devised.’

Hmm. I’m not a lawyer and I don’t play one on the interwebs but it seems to me that Tucker may have a legit pushback argument here. Even the write-ups about the debut on Twitter pointed out that it was bare-bones and Tucker did everything himself, like operating a teleprompter with a button positioned next to him. It wasn’t some slickly produced video production. It wasn’t a YouTube video, either. Your mileage may vary.

Elon Musk retweeted the episode after it aired and praised Tucker for coming to Twitter. ‘Would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform!’ Musk added that he has not signed a deal with Carlson when Tucker announced he would be moving to Twitter.

The letter from FOX came on May 9. Carlson’s lawyers sent “an aggressive letter” to FOX executives accusing them of fraud and breach of contract. They claim that Carlson shouldn’t be bound by the non-compete clause. FOX wants to keep paying Carlson, which prevents him from starting a competing show.

His lawyers indicate that legal action will soon be taken.

The letter was sent by Carlson’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, to Fox officials Viet Dinh, the company’s chief legal officer, and Irena Briganti, the head of corporate communications.

It claimed that Fox employees, including ‘Rupert Murdoch himself,’ broke promises to Carlson ‘intentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth,’ Axios reported.

The lawyers reportedly accused Fox executives, believed to be Dinh and Murdoch, of making ‘material representations’ to Carlson that were intentionally broken, constituting fraud.

The letter claimed that Fox broke a promise not to leak Carlson’s private messages.

The letter also alleged Fox broke promises not to settle with Dominion Voting Systems ‘in a way which would indicate wrongdoing’ on the part of Carlson, and backtracked on a deal not to do anything in a settlement that would harm Carlson’s reputation.

The letter stated: ‘These actions not only breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the Agreement, but give rise to claims for breach of contract, and intentional and negligent misrepresentation.’

Carlson claims in the letter that Briganti attempted to ‘undermine, embarrass, and interfere’ with Carlson’s future business prospects, which he maintains would constitute another breach of his employment contract.

‘Make no mistake, we intend to subpoena Ms. Briganti’s cell phone records and related documents, which evidence communications with her and all media, including, but not limited to The New York Times,’ the letter said.

FOX denies Tucker lost his job because of the settlement with Dominion. A lawyer for Dominion said that firing Tucker was not a part of the settlement.

Carlson has no intention of going away and he won’t be silenced. We’ll see where all this goes.

*Correction: The letter from FOX was on May 9. This part of the story has been corrected. My apologies for the confusion. – Karen