EXCLUSIVE: The coup de grâce that caused Fox to announce this week that Maria Bartiromo was “no longer be with” the conservative outlet was a case of “very bad judgement,” and a long time in the making, sources say.
The assertions come today despite Bartiromo’s Hollywood attorney insisting the vet Wall Street anchor is still “an employee” of Fox and threatening legal action. Adding to the burgeoning media mess of the exit or not of the so-called Money Honey, Donald Trump had thrown serious shade on Fox for taking good pal Bartiromo off the air.
Shade that could set the stage for yet another loud showdown between Trump and his once fav media buddies at the Murdcoh-ruled Fox.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business,” the frequent Bartiromo guest posted late Thursday, about 12 hours after Fox announced “effective today” the Mornings with Maria host was out. “Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
Sharing inside Fox info and correspondence with Trump seems to be the primary reason that Bartiromo hasn’t been on-air for almost a month and was shown the out door Thursday. Deadline can confirm that leadership at the conservative leaning outlet had enough of the MAGA friendly Bartiromo after they learned the host passed corporate guidance missives with the White House in recent months. However, carving her own way at Fox Business and Fox News for over a decade, Bartiromo’s communications to Team Trump were the just most recent minefield that Fox exec feared could blow up in everyone’s faces.
“Her indiscretion was just the latest in a series of self-inflicted wounds,” a cable news insider says of Bartiromo and her close and sometimes fawning ties with Trump. “This has been a concern for awhile, Maria being too cozy with the White House. She crossed a line, and she’s suffered the consequences.”
Weary of addressing allegations of similar conduct over the years by Sean Hannity and other Fox hosts, or Bartiromo’s contract specifics, the source simply added: “She’s no longer with Fox, take that for what it is.”
I hear that while there may be “technical truth” due to contracts and other paperwork to the attorney Bryan Freedman‘s remarks that Bartiromo still works at Fox, she is not coming back to her Fox Business or Fox News perches — full stop.
While so often Trump friendly FNC certainly has waded into the 2020 conspiracy quicksand more than once, brass at the Suzanne Scoot run joint earlier this summer cautioned measured coverage of Trump’s dark July speech on the subject. In the remarks, and offering scant evidence, Trump tub thumped again that there was “foreign election interference, serious vulnerabilities in U.S. election infrastructure, and deliberate efforts by intelligence officials to withhold critical information from the President and the American people.”
Long a passionate defender of POTUS and offering him a rosy platform over the years, Bartiromo’s apparent sharing of internal edicts, first reported by Status, with administration officials made her pink slipping inevitable.
Digging a little deep and a few years back, the seeds of Bartiromo’s downfall were pretty clear if you connect the red string.
In April 2023, Fox agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, one of the technology firms singled out in Fox’s coverage of the 2020 election results. Citied in volumes of court filings and the high stakes trial that had just started when Fox made their big bucks deal with Dominion, Bartiromo was one of the main hosts on Fox promoting the false claims of irregularities with the election Trump lost and Joe Biden won. At the time, the top rated Tucker Carlson was suddenly pulled off the air at Fox in a move that resulted in a Freedman handled legal dust-up with the company for the now podcaster.
No word from ex-Apprentice host Trump if Bartiromo is in the running to be the new White House press secretary, but sharp-elbowed lawyer Freedman says his client actually isn’t looking for a new job because she still has her old one.
“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels,” Freedman truthfully said Friday, as my colleague Dade Hayes noted earlier. “She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career.”
The winning lawyer for the likes of Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelly, as well as Don Lemon, then unsheathed the knife that may lead to a bloody affair down the line.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” Freedman declared. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
Fox did not respond to Deadline’s request for response to Freedman’s clearly nuanced statement. The White House also did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on the Bartiromo matter.
