Puck News senior correspondent Dylan Byers uncovered the story behind Maria Bartiromo’s sudden exit from Fox Business on Friday.He revealed that the main people involved in the situation were a Trump adviser and a top Fox executive, which reportedly upset the network’s leadership.
Byers reported that the conflict started on July 15 when Ralph Giordano, the senior vice president of programming at Fox Business, told the producers of Mornings With Maria not to cover Trump’s upcoming speech on election integrity.
Trump used his July 16 speech to bring up his controversial claims about the 2020 election, accuse China of interference, and ask Congress to pass stricter voting rules before the midterms.
This order created a problem for Bartiromo, who had planned to report on the speech and invited Peter Navarro, a top White House advisor, to comment.
Navarro said Bartiromo took a screenshot of Giordano’s message and sent it directly to him.He described the situation as Fox trying to stop her from covering the speech, which he called “censoring.” Navarro then shared the info with senior White House officials.
An unknown high-level White House official then called Fox to complain about the decision.
According to Byers, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace were upset that Bartiromo shared the internal instructions with the administration.
This incident happened at a tough time for Fox, as the network had just paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems over their 2020 election coverage.
Another lawsuit from Smartmatic is still going on, and Bartiromo was named in both.Navarro and Bartiromo were both known for promoting election conspiracy theories at the time.
Byers also noted that Bartiromo had a bad relationship with Giordano.
A 2023 lawsuit from former Fox producer Abby Grossberg claimed Giordano called her a “very difficult talent” and said he “did not like her at all.” Fox denied these claims before settling the case.
Bartiromo stayed on air for several weeks after the July incident.
Her last appearance on Fox Business was on August 7, and her final one on Fox News was on August 9.The network announced that she is no longer with FOX News Media.
However, Bartiromo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, denied reports that she had been fired.
He said those claims were false and that they have evidence and witnesses who will come forward, either through court or otherwise.
Trump also supported Bartiromo on his social media platform, calling her “a total professional and a true warrior” and warning Fox that her many fans would not be happy.
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