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September 7, 2016

Greta van Susteren abruptly leaves Fox News

By Thomas Lifson

The turmoil at Fox News extends well beyond the settlement ($20 million) and apology the network’s parent company gave to Gretchen Carlson yesterday in the wake of her charges of sexual harassment against Roger Ailes, who has himself left the network (settlement: reportedly $40 million).  Yesterday morning, Greta van Susteren tweeted:

Note that van Susteren says that her discontent has been building for years.  But she has also been a defender of Roger Ailes and had in her contract a “key man” clause that allowed her to end her employment in the event of a change at the top.

According to FNC media reporter Howard Kurtz:

According to a source familiar with the process, Van Susteren asked to renegotiate her contract after Roger Ailes resigned under pressure as Fox News chairman following a sexual harassment lawsuit. Van Susteren is one of a number of key Fox personnel whose contract included a “key man” clause allowing her to leave if Ailes departed.

When those negotiations deadlocked, Van Susteren chose to invoke the departure option, the sources said. Her last show was Thursday, and the swiftness of events did not allow her to deliver an on-air farewell.

She is being replaced until Election Day by 73-year-old semi-retired Brit Hume, who is self-admittedly a little rusty.  He is also an open skeptic of Donald Trump’s candidacy, in contrast to van Susteren, who has been quite supportive.

So what lies ahead for Greta?  Business Insider reports:

She added that she hoped "to continue my career in broadcasting."

Her future plans were not immediately clear.  Politico media reporter Hadas Gold noted that Van Susteren liked a tweet about the cable channel HLN perhaps needing a new 9 p.m. host with a legal background:

As for Fox News, I predict more changes ahead.  It could get rough.

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