Posted on 05/27/2021 5:51:01 PM PDT by Signalman
Fox News commentator and political analyst Juan Williams announced that he will no longer appear on "The Five" after reportedly being forced out by fellow co-host Greg Gutfeld.
"This is my last day hosting 'The Five,'" Williams stated on-air late Wednesday evening. "COVID taught me a lot of lessons. As the show goes back to the New York studio, I'll be staying in D.C. I'll be working for Fox out of Washington. My work as a Fox News political analyst will continue."
Sources at Fox News told The Daily Beast that Gutfeld mounted a pressure campaign against Williams inside the network, urging at least one member of Fox's top brass to let Williams go when the show's "liberal" co-host was reluctant to return to the studio in person.
One network insider told The Daily Beast that Gutfeld had been pushing Albano for a while to get Williams removed from The Five, adding that Gutfeld was "really pissed they're not all back in the studio together and he blames Juan for not being back."
A former Fox News producer further elaborated, stating they were "very confident" that Gutfeld was behind Williams' exit. A current staffer also added: "[Gutfeld's] been wanting the show back in the studio for quite some time."
One current Fox News staffer told The Beast that in future the program might "not book Democrats at all."
One network insider told The Daily Beast that Gutfeld had been pushing Albano for a while to get Williams removed from The Five, adding that Gutfeld was "really pissed they're not all back in the studio together and he blames Juan for not being back."
A former Fox News producer further elaborated, stating they were "very confident" that Gutfeld was behind Williams' exit. A current staffer also added: "[Gutfeld's] been wanting the show back in the studio for quite some time."
One current Fox News staffer told The Beast that in future the program might "not book Democrats at all."
Following the sudden programming change, Fox News vice president Megan Albano said in a statement to Salon that Williams had expressed a desire to stay in the Washington area:
As Juan Williams announced on air today, he will be leaving The Five to live in Washington, DC full time. We are incredibly grateful for his commitment to the show and its success over the last several years. As we started planning The Five's return to its New York City studio at our headquarters a few months ago, Juan decided to stay in Washington, DC permanently. We accommodated his request, understanding and appreciating his desire to remain closer to his family and recognizing that a remote co-hosting role on a roundtable in-studio program was not a long-term option. While we will miss his insightful contributions each night and look forward to welcoming him on set whenever he's in New York, we are pleased to have him continue his longtime role as a senior political analyst with FOX News Media.
The Daily Beast reports that Fox News plans to allow "a rotating series of liberal commentators" to display their skills in Williams' slot before settling on an eventual replacement.
Williams has long sparred with the predominantly conservative co-hosts in the evening hour but has been seen as standing his ground over the years. He is widely respected for his willingness to call out his own network's mistakes, but in sufficiently diplomatic terms to ensure a lengthy tenure at Fox News.
Back when I watched FNS, Brit Hume’s incredulous facial expressions at Juan’s idiocy cracked me up...Probably the main reason I watched.
Net worth reported to be $5 million. Not that much for the elites. Maybe he can invest in the BLM woman’s holdings and sue for racism if they don’t earn a profit.
He’s always been self-centered, with a chip on his shoulder and belief he is as smart as the others on panels but he NEVER has been.
Yeah, Gutfield gets on my nerves real fast.
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They are all little bit players who exist to support Chris Wallace taking out the Conservative Candidate in the Presidential Debates.
That’s the reason why they exist and why Paul Ryan, Trey Gowdy, and Brett Baier flock there.
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I LOVE Gutfeld he is hysterical, snarkey yes but I enjoy that humor!!!
When Fox or Newsmax plays clips of democrats and fake news I immediately tune out. I don’t want to see any of them.
:-))))))))
Yay, bring Bob Beckel back! 🤣🤣🤣
Il drink to that
Exactly right!
A much better move would be to get rid of Jerry Rivers, aka Geraldo Rivera, on Hannity. He adds nothing but idiocy to the show.
He still gets his salary.
“We get the opposing viewpoint everywhere.”
Right you are. And that the whistle-wits in management at Fox are clueless is a wonderment.
My wife and I stopped watching Fox when Donna Brazile was onboarded.
Good riddance to POS Williams, no improvement today as they brought in another scumbag, Geraldo.
Juan Williams is an abject idiot who brought nothing too that program, but his insane liberalism! Good riddance!
LOL You are a Juan Williams fan???
No, I’m not a Juan fan, but Greg’s smug attitude becomes annoying to me after a short time.
I have usually laughed at Juan, he is elementary in his responses and just not good at his presentation, so it has always been tough to take him seriously.
BUT, several weeks ago he got me and I bet many, many others. The panel was talking about the declining numbers of COVID, and of course, Juan pumped Biden up and pretty much gave him full credit for vaccine and saving the world. I believe it was Greg, might have been Perino who asked if Juan would like to give President some credit also, at which he replied, “YEAH, I WILL GIVE HIM CREDIT FOR GETTING OUT OF THE WAY.”
I knew immediately that was Juan William’s SWAN SONG.
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Looks like the Daily Beast is targetting Gutfeld. I think Juan was given the ultimatum of get your ass back in the studio or retire.
They should give Juan his only 1 man TV show called “I’m With Stupid!” Where Juan purposely lies about what happened during the events of the day and blames it all on Trump.
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