Top rated Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson announced a “long planned” trout fishing vacation Monday night after a senior writer on his show, Blake Neff, resigned in disgrace, after racist and sexist comments he posted anonymously online were exposed by CNN late last week.
Carlson said Brian Kilmeade would be filling in the next four nights and that taped segments would be shown. Carlson held out the possibility of returning sooner “if something dramatic happens”.
Carlson addressed the resignation of Neff and his own vacation plans in separate segments on Monday’s show.
Here's how @TuckerCarlson addressed his former top writer Blake Neff's resignation for having secretly posted racist and sexist material on an online message board. pic.twitter.com/Kle9kkNygx
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 14, 2020
Tucker Carlson, on his (now former) head writer being exposed as a racist, sexist troll: …to the ghouls now beating their chests in triumph at the destruction of a young man, that self-righteousness also has its costs. His monologue: pic.twitter.com/XMa7O4FV6Z
— Paul Farhi (@farhip) July 14, 2020
Annnnnnnnd Tucker Carlson announced he's taking a "long-planned vacation" at the end of his show. pic.twitter.com/6TjtGXlvwE
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 14, 2020
Excerpt from CNN’s report on Neff:
…Just this week, the writer, Blake Neff, responded to a thread started by another user in 2018 with the subject line, “Would u let a JET BLACK congo n****er do lasik eye surgery on u for 50% off?” Neff wrote, “I wouldn’t get LASIK from an Asian for free, so no.” (The subject line was not censored on the forum.) On June 5, Neff wrote, “Black doods staying inside playing Call of Duty is probably one of the biggest factors keeping crime down.” On June 24, Neff commented, “Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep.” On June 26, Neff wrote that the only people who care about changing the name of the NFL’s Washington Redskins are “white libs and their university-‘educated’ pets.”
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and Executive Editor Jay Wallace say Tucker Carlson will address the Blake Neff matter on Monday's program. Here is their statement to the staff: pic.twitter.com/DoC5kLRXyD
— Stephen Battaglio (@SteveBattaglio) July 11, 2020
Fox’s habit of hosts abruptly going on vacation as controversy heats up was lampooned by the Daily Show. Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and former Fox host Bill O’Reilly each went on vacation during difficult times for their shows with O’Reilly not returning.
lol Tucker Carlson just announced he's going on a fishing vacation pic.twitter.com/0ofmbSx6Pw
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 14, 2020
Liberal activists have been campaigning to get Tucker Carlson taken off the air through advertiser boycotts and intimidation.