Geraldo Rivera announced on Thursday (June 29) that he is leaving Fox News after being fired from panel discussion show The Five.
The veteran broadcaster tweeted the news in a video he shared from his boat as he sailed off Jones Beach, Long Island, NY.
“Bumpy day on the North Atlantic,” he posted. “Anyway I got fired from @TheFive so I quit Fox. After 23 years tomorrow Fox and Friends could be my last day appearance on the network. Thanks for the memories.”
Bumpy day on the North Atlantic. Anyway, I got fired from @TheFive so I quit Fox. After 23 years tomorrow Fox and Friends could be my last appearance on the network. Thanks for the memories. pic.twitter.com/74Qgalz8sF
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) June 29, 2023
Rivera also promised he would have “more to say” about exiting the cable network which he joined from CNBC in 2001 as a war correspondent.
He added: “The program and the network are very important to me, to my life, to my family and so forth.”
2 miles off the coast of Hampton Bays Long Island. En route to lower Manhattan 100 miles pic.twitter.com/AanXsxFZSC
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) June 29, 2023
A Fox News spokesperson said Thursday evening in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “We reached an amicable conclusion with Geraldo over the past few weeks and look forward to celebrating him tomorrow on Fox & Friends which will be his last appearance on the network.”
The network celebrated his 50+ years on TV with a lengthy video montage and gushing taped tributes from Fox News personalities when he appeared on Fox & Friends on Friday, June 30. On the show, Rivera confirmed that he was, indeed, leaving Fox News. Talking of his time on TV, he said: “It has been an infinite adventure.” But he didn’t comment about the controversy behind his exit from the network.
As TV Insider previously reported, Rivera revealed on June 21 that he was quitting The Five before he was booted, adding that appearing on the show was “no longer worth it to me.”
Rivera, who turns 80 on July 4, was one of the left-leaning co-hosts on the late afternoon political gabfest. It features conservative panelists Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, and Greg Gutfeld and rotating “liberal” panelists Rivera, Jessica Tarlov, and Harold Ford Jr. The latter three have served as rotating hosts since Juan Williams left the series in 2021. The series, which has been running since 2011, boasts some of cable news’ highest ratings.
Rivera previously stated that he would continue as a “correspondent at large” at Fox News. His contract had been set to expire in January 2025. Negotiations in recent days have clearly changed all that, hence his sudden exit from the network.
In an interview with The Associated Press on June 21, Rivera said, “There has been a growing tension that goes beyond editorial differences and personal annoyances and gripes,” he said. “It’s not worth it to me. It has been a rocky ride but it has also been an exhilarating adventure that spanned quite a few years. I hope it’s not my last adventure.”
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
