Stephen L. Carter, Columnist

Tucker Carlson's Fox Defense Crumbled When He Took Millions

The former TV anchor can’t just ignore the noncompete clause he signed with the network.

June 18, 2023 at 12:00 PM UTC

Stephen L. Carter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, a professor of law at Yale University and author of “Invisible: The Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster.”

Silence is golden.
Photographer: Janos Kummer/Getty Images Europe

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Tucker Carlson might not work for Fox News anymore, but as their messy public divorce drags on, the unhappily parted pair can’t help making headlines. The latest salvo was fired by Fox, which warned that the former anchor’s new Twitter show violates the noncompete clause in his contract. A lawyer for Carlson shot back that any attempt to shut him down would violate the First Amendment.

I have no dog in this fight, but whatever the answer, the First Amendment has nothing to do with it.