Claim: ABC signed a $400 million deal with Tucker Carlson for a late-night show which will replace the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
Fact: The ABC Network did not offer Carlson a deal. The news was first posted as satire and has no basis in reality.
On 17 July 2024, multiple Facebook accounts posted pictures of the ABC Network’s building and American conservative television host Tucker Carlson with the caption, “Breaking: ABC Signs A $400 Million Deal With Tucker Carlson For A Late-Night Show, “Going to Replace Jimmy Kimmel Show”.
Who is Tucker Carlson?
Carlson is an American conservative political commentator and TV host who headed the political talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News. The show was hugely successful, and in 2020 Forbes ranked it as the most-watched cable news show averaging about four million viewers a night.
Despite his large audience, Carlson proved to be a controversial figure as he used his show to propagate multiple conspiracy theories. For example, in 2021, he stated that Dr Anthony Fauci, the former Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States who served during the COVID-19 pandemic, helped create the disease. Carlson also validated a white supremacist theory called the replacement theory by claiming that the Democratic party wishes to replace the US population with “more obedient voters from the Third World”, and multiple conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election.
One such theory perpetuated by Carlson alleged that Dominion Voting Systems, a company that sells electronic voting hardware and software, helped rig the 2020 elections in former president Joe Biden’s favour. The conspiracy resulted in a lawsuit filed by Dominion in 2021 which led to a $78.7 million settlement paid by Fox Media. It was shortly after this lawsuit was settled in 2023 that Fox News Media abruptly let the talk show host go. In a statement the network said, “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a keyword search including the term “Tucker Carlson ABC Network” but did not find any relevant search results or news, by mainstream or smaller outlets, that reported such a development.
We then conducted a reverse image search and found a Facebook post by the account ‘SpaceX Fanclub’ from 16 July 2024, a day before the viral claim was shared. This was the earliest post with the same image of the ABC Network’s building and Carlson. However, this image included a “Rated Satire” sign in the top-left corner. The photo was also captioned with the same news announcement but contained the word satire. The caption reads, “ABC Signs A $400 Million Deal With Tucker Carlson For A Late-Night Show, “Going to Replace Jimmy Kimmel Show” – SATIRE”.
A link to an article written by Esspots was included in the comments of the post. The article was titled, “Breaking: ABC Signs A $400 Million Deal With Tucker Carlson For A Late-Night Show, ‘Going to Replace Jimmy Kimmel Show’”. The piece reports that the ABC Network is looking to diversify its viewership base by bringing in conservative viewers who are fans of Tucker Carlson. The article also mentions that The Jimmy Kimmel Live! show was experiencing a decline in viewership which contributed to the decision made by the network to axe the show.
However, this report too seems to be satirical in nature. The author of the piece, Alex Robin, is described in the article as someone with, “years of experience in crafting clever and satirical pieces”. Additionally, in the About section of the website, Esspots describes itself as, “your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America.”
While Soch Fact Check had already concluded there were no verified announcements or reports of Carlson’s deal with ABC Network, we also looked into the claim that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was being axed. However, the most recent reports about the show’s viewership were exceedingly positive. Variety reported in June 2024 that Jimmy Kimmel Live! hit a five-month rating high. The report stated that “after two weeks of consecutive growth, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” led the pack, ranking as the No. 1 late night talk show of the week in 18-49 rating.”
The Facebook page “Space X Fanclub”, which first posted the news, also defines itself as “Satire/Parody” in the description section of its page. The introduction section of the page reiterates this, writing, “We post SATIRE, nothing on this page is real.” In spite of this, the claim was shared as legitimate news without the satire warning as legitimate news.
Thus Soch Fact Check concludes that the claim is false as it was originally shared as satire. \
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the same claim had been shared on Facebook here, here and here.
Conclusion: The ABC Network is not ending its contract with Jimmy Kimmel and signing a $400 million deal with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson. The news was first posted as satire and has no basis in reality.
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com