Longtime television personality Geraldo Rivera said that he was “fired” by Fox News’ “The Five” and has now “quit” the network, coming in the midst of lineup changes at the network.
“Bumpy day on the North Atlantic. Anyway, I got fired from [The Five] so I quit Fox,” Rivera, 79, wrote on Twitter. “After 23 years tomorrow ‘Fox and Friends’ could be my last appearance on the network. Thanks for the memories.”
Rivera, 79, had the “liberal” seat on “The Five,” which has recently been the highest-rated show on the cable news network. Others who sit in the seat include contributor Jessica Tarlov and former Democrat Rep. Harold Ford Jr.
His comment on Twitter comes days after Fox News announced a new primetime lineup change that will more prominently feature “The Five” hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld. Meanwhile, it comes about two months after Fox News announced it is parting ways with Tucker Carlson, who was the top-rated host at the network for years.
When Carlson left the network, Rivera reacted with scorn. “I don’t wish ill on anybody, but there is no doubt—as I said at the time—Tucker Carlson’s perverse January 6 conspiracy theory was [expletive]. Having lost the election President [Donald] Trump incited an insurrection that sought to undermine our Constitutional process,” he wrote.
And in response, Gutfeld replied with, “You’re a class act Geraldo. A real man of the people.”
Both Rivera and Gutfeld have publicly sparred on “The Five,” with the two recently shouting at one another about electric vehicles. At one point during that exchange, Rivera yelled at Gutfeld to “stop pointing at me.”
Weeks later, Rivera claimed that his appearances on “The Five” were allegedly cut but said that “I’ll be back [the] week after next.” When asked by the Daily Beast about the change, Rivera at the time stated that he couldn’t comment beyond what he said in the public Twitter post.
Rivera has been with Fox News since 2021, having previously worked as a broadcast journalist who notably hosted a 1986 televised event, “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults,” which revealed ultimately nothing.
Fox News, in a Friday article, confirmed Rivera’s departure. “I am honored, I love Fox, I love the people at Fox, I always will,” Rivera said in an interview with “Fox and Friends.”