While the sun may be shining elsewhere, the darkest of clouds hover over Fox News, which has dealt with one controversy after another for months. It didn't technically start with the accusations-turned-ousting of former head honcho Roger Ailes, that was the back-breaking straw, and yesterday brought the news that the still new co-president Bill Shine was forced to resign, which immediately sparked rumors that Fox News stalwart Sean Hannity was also mulling an exit from the channel. But the conservative host seemed to put that to a rest on last night's telecast, closing the show out with this.
By the way, thank you to all our friends in the media that were tuning in tonight, maybe for the first time. And all the lies you've heard about me are not true.
Not exactly an extended diatribe that goes point-by-point, and it isn't even explicitly stated which claims Sean Hannity is referring to, but we can put a healthy bit of assumption on him talking about the rumors that he would probably leave Fox News in the near future, even as early as Tuesday evening. Those, of course, came in the aftermath of Bill Shine stepping down, as Hannity was in full support of keeping Shine around, having had a long and friendly relationship with him over the years. Prior to Rupert Murdoch's final decision on Shine's fate, Hannity had also tweeted out that Shine's removal would mean "the total end of the FNC as we know it."
And all this is coming up not long after Bill O'Reilly's recent firing, which itself inspired speculation about what it could mean for Sean Hannity's job, as well as the jobs of other hard-right personalities. It was said then that Hannity was looking to find a way to secure his spot within the company and get on the good side of Rupert Murdoch, who is attempting to acquire the U.K.'s Sky network. The stipulation there is that a morally guided approval first has to happen with a British regulatory agency in order for the acquisition to go through, and some believe that's the impetus for all the shake-ups.
We're sure to hear a lot more about it in the future, and presumably from the man himself, but for now, fans of Sean Hannity can sit tight with the knowledge that he doesn't appear to be seeking employment elsewhere. Of course, in the world of TV news, the tides can always change from one day to the next. And tide changes mean ratings.
From now until the unforeseeable future, you can catch Sean Hannity on Hannity, airing weeknights on Fox News at 10 p.m. ET. Head to our summer TV premiere schedule to see when other shows are returning and debuting on the small screen in the coming months.
