Conservatives are now claiming that the controversial investment company Blackrock is responsible for Fox News choosing to part ways with Tucker Carlson this week.
In posts across social media, including one from the prominent far-right Twitter user known as “Catturd,” Blackrock is accused of influencing the decision through its investments in Fox News as well as Dominion Voting Systems. But the facts surrounding the allegation aren’t true.
“Blackrock owns 59.M shares of Dominion. Blackrock owns 45.7M shares of Fox,” one popular claims reads. “Blackrock sued itself and fired TuckerCarlson as part of that lawsuit. FIGURED IT OUT YET?”
While neither Carlson nor Fox News have revealed the alleged reasoning behind the split, the Los Angeles Times reported that the decision came from Fox News founder and Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.
Murdoch’s choice was reportedly influenced by revelations that came out during the media company’s lawsuit with Dominion, which saw Fox News settle for $787.5 million over its promotion of false claims regarding voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Private conversations between Carlson and others at Fox News, which were revealed during the lawsuit, showed the popular host criticizing upper management after the network opted to scale back its coverage of the false election claims. The remarks from Carlson, according to the Wall Street Journal, may have also influenced the split.
Others have claimed sexist comments from Carlson helped spur the split.
But is it true that Blackrock had Carlson fired for causing issues with both Fox News and Dominion?
Blackrock does own shares in Fox Corporation. According to Forbes, it owns approximately 15% of shares in the company, which would not give it the authority to order Carlson fired.
The investment firm does not own shares in the voting machine company. Blackrock does, however, own shares in an energy company known as Dominion Resources. Conspiracy theorists failed to differentiate between the two companies when concocting their claim.
The allegation that “Blackrock sued itself” and fired Carlson is therefore provably false.
Nevertheless, countless conservatives continue to go viral for spreading the disproven claim online.
