Fox Business Network’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight” program, whose host boasted unfounded claims of electoral fraud in the 2020 election, was canceled. Fox News said in a statement on Friday that the change was part of the routine schedule changes it had foreshadowed in an announcement last fall.
Fox News “regularly considers schedule changes and there are plans to launch new formats as appropriate after the election, including Fox Business – this is part of the planned changes,” said the company.
Whether the cancellation ends Dobbs’ career at Fox News has not been discussed, and the company has not commented further. The former CNN host started his Fox show in March 2011.
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The statement appeared to distance the end of the program from a multi-billion dollar defamation suit filed against Fox and three of its presenters, including Dobbs, by election technology company Smartmatic. In a previous statement, Fox News said it would “vigorously defend itself against this case without merit in court”.
The replacement for “Lou Dobbs Tonight” will be announced shortly, Fox News said. The program aired for the last time on Friday, with a guest presenter sitting in place of Dobbs, who had no immediate statement.
An interim program, “Fox Business Tonight”, will air from 5 pm Eastern Monday, with rotating hosts Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman, and will be repeated at 7 pm ET.