• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 25, 2023

In statements from Fox News and CNN on Monday, the departures of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were family affairs.

"We have some news from within our Fox family,” said Harris Faulkner on her late-morning talk show Monday on Fox News.

The job of announcing Carlson's exit from Fox News likely fell to her out of sheer coincidence. Her show -- “The Faulkner Focus” (11 AM to noon Eastern) -- just happened to be on when the news broke.

The statement made it all sound so friendly, so amicable.

“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have mutually agreed to part ways,” she said. “Tucker's last show was this past Friday.”

Wow, that was fast. Like a prime-time Lone Ranger, Tucker didn't even wait to be thanked. Hi-yo, Silver.

“And starting tonight, ‘Fox News Live’ will air live [redundant] at 8 PM Eastern. It will be an interim show with rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named,” Faulkner reported.

“We want to thank Tucker Carlson for his service to the network as a host, and prior to that, as a long-term contributor,” she concluded.

Thank you for your service. It was as if Tucker was a combat veteran. Come to think of it, in the theater of prime-time shouting and finger-pointing, maybe he was.

Meanwhile, over at CNN, a statement from CNN CEO Chris Licht on the departure of Don Lemon was just over the top. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family,” read this statement from CNN p.r. that was part of the official news story CNN posted on its own website on Monday.

One wonders what that means. Will he be coming over for Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chris Licht's birthday? Don't be a stranger, Don!

“We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors,” concluded the statement.

This is the part that really went above and beyond. From where will they be “cheering” Don Lemon? From a grandstand somewhere? Go, Don, go! Good luck with those future endeavors, Don (snicker). Parting is such sweet sorrow, isn't it?

In their approaches to news and partisan commentary, CNN and Fox News could not be more different. But when it comes to reporting on themselves, they are cut from the same cloth.>

The headline on CNN.com's story about Don Lemon: “Don Lemon and CNN part ways.”

The headline on Fox News.com's story about Tucker Carlson: “Fox News Media, Tucker Carlson part ways.”

While the headlines seem the same, one thing is not: Fox News Media gave itself top billing over Carlson in its headline, while CNN took second place to Don Lemon in the CNN.com headline. Well played, Fox News!

As of 2:30 p.m. Eastern on Monday, CNN.com’s updated story on the parting of the ways with Lemon included a statement he posted on Twitter earlier in the day blasting CNN.

The statement came out before CNN even had a chance to post its own story.“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN,” tweeted Lemon. “I am stunned.”

This last seemed disingenuous. If Lemon was stunned, then he was the only one.

CNN's afternoon story delved into some of his miscues, most notably the remarks he made on the CNN morning show in February in which he declared that women are past their primes by the time they hit 50.

The statement was ludicrous and shocking, but even worse, it seemed just plain nuts. The comment came in the context of a discussion about Republican Nikki Haley, 51, who is running for president.

Most observers agreed then that Lemon's days were numbered, and they ended Monday, or possibly over the weekend.

There have also been rumblings for months that where audiences were concerned, Lemon had long worn out his welcome.

“After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,” said Lemon’s testy tweet.

“At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network,” he wrote. “It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”

Whatever these issues were, he declined to mention them. Not surprisingly, neither the Fox News story on Carlson nor the CNN story on Lemon told why both men were sacked -- or mutually agreed to go, or parted ways, or whatever.

For its part, CNN issued a statement Monday afternoon refuting Lemon’s statement from earlier in the day. “Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate,” said CNN. “He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

A better statement may have been: “Hey, Don, lighten up -- we’re family!”

As for Tucker Carlson and the Fox News story, reactions came in from all over the place.

From the headquarters of Newsmax in Boca Raton, Florida, came a gloating statement from CEO Chris Ruddy. In the statement, Ruddy alleged that Carlson’s exit is evidence that Fox is gradually moving leftward from the far right.

“For a while, Fox News has been moving to become establishment media and Tucker Carlson’s removal is a big milestone in that effort,” said Ruddy. “Millions of viewers who liked the old Fox News have made the switch to Newsmax and Tucker’s departure will only fuel that trend.”

Newsmax may indeed be Carlson’s next stop, but a sports betting website, SportsBetting.ag, puts the odds of that at 5-1.