News Anchors Who Spoke Out After They Were Fired
In 1980, the news changed, for better or worse. That summer, CNN joined television as the very first 24-hour news station. Since then, others have joined the fold, and the news landscape is now a part of pop culture all on its own. Rather than needing just a few anchors to cover the major programs, news networks now need employees who are available round the clock. Additionally, stations need new ideas for interesting programming, as well as personalities who will garner views. These needs, combined with other factors, have created a unique environment where national news anchors have become celebrities of sorts.
Like in all industries, news anchors say and do things they shouldn't say and do, have disputes with management, and clash with colleagues, all of which can lead them to get fired. Unfortunately for them, their jobs are on display for the nation. When they get fired, everybody knows it. Fortunately for them, they can also speak out like never before, and many of the country's foremost news anchors who've been let go from their jobs have taken full advantage of their media connections to share their perspectives. Here are some news anchors who spoke out after getting fired.
Don Lemon said he's moved on from his controversial comments
Don Lemon first joined CNN as a news anchor in 2006. While on the network, he became known for his outspoken political views and willingness to say what others seemed afraid to say. He covered some of the most infamous events in recent American history, including celebrity deaths, terrorist attacks, and school shootings. Lemon hosted "CNN Tonight" and served as a correspondent on multiple other series on the network, quickly becoming one of CNN's most popular anchors. In 2023, however, after nearly 20 years with the station, Lemon was fired from CNN after on-air remarks he made about former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley that many critics considered ageist.
About seven months after the firing, Lemon shared his feelings on the matter. "I haven't spent much time thinking about that and thinking about Nikki Haley. I would rather not discuss it. I've moved on and Nikki Haley has moved on. My comments were misconstrued and that's it. I've explained it. I apologized for it," Lemon said to People. "[W]as it very painful? Yes. Well, do I wish that my exit from CNN had been different? Absolutely, but it is what it is, and I can't go back and change the past." At the time of the interview, Lemon was preparing for his new gig, a talk show on X, formerly known as Twitter. However, after his first interview with X owner Elon Musk went awry, Lemon was again unemployed.
Megyn Kelly said her job wasn't stimulating
Megyn Kelly has been one of the most popular conservative voices in mainstream media for about two decades. The anchor started at Fox News in 2004 and slowly climbed from correspondent to host of her own prime-time series called "The Kelly File." In early 2017, Kelly left Fox News for multiple reasons, citing scheduling difficulties with her evening airtime considering the ages of her then-small children. Kelly didn't stay off television for long, however, and soon hosted her own NBC series, "Megyn Kelly Today." Kelly's time at NBC was much shorter than her time at Fox News. In 2019, she was fired from NBC after making racist remarks.
Years after her firing, Kelly took to an interview to share her thoughts on the ordeal. "I look at my career the same way I look at my relationship history. I had a first marriage that ended in divorce and the guy and I are still friends. Do I think it was a mistake to marry my first husband? I don't. It's all part of the journey that gets you to where you are. That's how I see my time at NBC," Kelly said to Business Insider. "To be perfectly honest, the job wasn't intellectually stimulating for me, and now I feel like I have the best of both worlds," she said. Kelly now hosts the SiriusXM podcast "The Megyn Kelly Show."
Melissa Francis learned of her firing via teleprompter
Melissa Francis has had an illustrious career in television. As a child actor, she played a role on the hit series "Little House on the Prairie," taking a hiatus when she reached adulthood. The Harvard alum worked as a reporter for various local affiliates before joining CNBC and then moving to Fox Business Network. While on Fox, Francis hosted "Money With Melissa Francis" and "After the Bell" while co-hosting programs like "Outnumbered" on the network's main station. In 2020, while anchoring from home amid the pandemic, Francis was fired from Fox News. The reasons given at the time by the network were vague, but rumors indicated that it was due to a salary dispute.
In 2022, Francis spoke with another former Fox employee to share her side of the story and detail the moment she learned she was fired. "I clipped on my mic, I checked in ... I'm about to go, and it comes up in the prompter, 'You've been canceled.' And I said, 'What? What's going on?' And all of a sudden, everything went dead," Francis said on "The Megyn Kelly Show." "I talked to the show staff afterward and they were like, 'We weren't told anything. We have no idea what happened.' And they were left scrambling. I mean, all of a sudden this poor show team had no idea, and they just yanked the electricity on their anchor," she added.
Charlie Rose spoke to another major news outlet after leaving TV
Longtime news anchor Charlie Rose went from venerated television icon to disgraced journalist in a matter of days. Rose, a Duke graduate with history and law degrees, began his tenure with CBS in 1991, notably hosting "Charlie Rose," co-anchoring "CBS This Morning," and serving as a contributor to "60 Minutes" until 2017. That fall, Rose was accused by eight women who worked (or hoped to work) for him of sexual misconduct throughout the first 20 years of his time at CBS. The award-winning journalist was first suspended by the network as it investigated the allegations, and he was ultimately let go.
Rose's firing came at the height of the #MeToo movement, and he was one of several male TV journalists who were fired from their long-term positions after getting accused of such behavior. Like many of his counterparts, Rose spoke out. "It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior," Rose said in a statement (via The Washington Post). "I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate. I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken." Though Rose never returned to TV after his firing, he was interviewing people again a few years later on a series called "Charlie Rose Conversations."
Amy Robach started a podcast to speak out
Though Amy Robach has been with multiple news networks as a television journalist, she's best known for her work on ABC and the scandal that led to her eventual firing. The former news anchor was co-hosting "GMA3: What You Need to Know" in 2022 when rumors surfaced that she and her co-host T.J. Holmes were having an affair. Following the news, some of their ABC co-workers reportedly demanded they be let go. "Disney needs to step in and take action here," a source told the Daily Mail. "We're a family friendly network, and these two are not displaying family values or Disney's values," Someone at Disney, ABC's parent company, listened, and in early 2023, Robach and Holmes were both fired.
About a year later, Robach and Holmes returned to the media landscape with a podcast, "Amy & T.J." And in their first episode, they addressed the firings. Robach was particularly set on clarifying the timeline of their romantic relationship. "We had attorneys, mediators. We were in the middle of divorces," she said. "I believe the first day the first picture was taken, unbeknownst to us, was November 10, and my ex had already moved out of the house three months earlier," she added. "[A]nyone who thinks we were still in our marriages when those pictures were taken, well, the pictures actually tell the truth."
T.J. Holmes said he lost his job because of love
Like his partner, T.J. Holmes bounced around from network to network for a while before finding a permanent home at ABC. Holmes hosted local news programs in Missouri and California before hitting the stage nationally on CNN. Afterward, he worked for BET, returned to CNN, and then started his time at ABC, hosting programs like "World News Now" and "America This Morning." As noted, Holmes also hosted "GMA3: What You Need to Know" alongside Amy Robach, and after beginning a romantic relationship, the two news anchors' careers went up in flames.
Since their firing, Holmes and Robach have remained united, and they waited to speak out until they could do so together and totally on their own terms. The two started a podcast together, and their inaugural episode shed light on their side of the story. "The best way to sum us up, Amy and T.J., we are the folks who lost the jobs we love because we love each other, and that is bottom line," Holmes said on "Amy & T.J." Holmes also wanted to deny allegations that he and Robach were cheating with each other. "[W]e were outed as being in a relationship, but everyone else thought we were being outed as adulterers, being outed as cheating on our spouses, and it wasn't the case," he said. (quote at 10:35)
Chris Cuomo said he took control after he was fired
Chris Cuomo has been with multiple news outlets throughout his television career. The anchor, who had previously been an attorney, eventually landed at CNN and became a co-anchor on "New Day" and the host of "Cuomo Prime Time." Chris was a popular and respected TV host while at CNN, and his name recognition grew when his brother, Andrew Cuomo, became governor of New York. In 2021, both Chris and Andrew lost their jobs after Andrew was accused of sexual misconduct. Upon the allegations, Chris helped his brother handle the fallout and decide next steps, which CNN found to be unethical. By the end of the year, Andrew had resigned as governor, and Chris was fired by CNN.
Over two years after he was fired, Chris was interviewed about the ordeal. "It's not like I had a change of heart about being on TV; it was taken from me. So, you have to deal with what comes your way. You have to change what you can, accept what you can't, and focus on what you can control. And I had control over what I did next. And I chose to go to a place that was open to interpretation and much more driven by purpose," he said to The Washington Post. Like many male television anchors ousted in recent years, Chris found his way back in front of the screen as the host of "Cuomo" on NewsNation.
Bill O'Reilly said he was targeted
For decades, Bill O'Reilly was synonymous with conservative news. The TV anchor worked for multiple networks before moving to Fox News to host "The O'Reilly Report," which later became "The O'Reilly Factor" after high ratings moved the program to a prime-time slot. In April 2017, amid O'Reilly's seemingly untouchable career, The New York Times reported that Fox News had paid millions in settlements over the news anchor's tenure at the network after he was accused multiple times of sexual misconduct. In the weeks following the Times article, Fox News lost advertisers and viewers pressured the network to take action. Soon after, O'Reilly was fired.
"There was no reason," O'Reilly said to Matt Lauer (who would coincidentally be fired months later for similar allegations) on "Today" when asked the reason for his termination. "They had a contractual clause that they could pay me a certain amount of money and not put me on the air." Just as had been reported previously, O'Reilly denied any allegations of misconduct. "In 42 years, I've been in this business. I've worked for 12 companies. Not anytime have I had any interaction with HR, any complaints filed against me. ... Nobody is a perfect person, but I can go to sleep at night very well knowing that I've never mistreated anyone on my watch in 42 years," he said.
Geraldo Rivera said he was fired and then quit
Geraldo Rivera has been a looming presence in the media landscape for decades. He's done investigative reporting, hosted live shows, covered presidential elections, and given his opinions on politics. Since 2001, much of Rivera's television career has been with Fox News. He hosted his own programs for the network such as "At Large With Geraldo Rivera," and he co-hosted popular series like "The Five" on occasion. After years of appearing on "The Five" on a somewhat regular basis, Rivera had a dispute with another co-host, and in 2023, he quit working for Fox News.
When news first broke of Rivera's departure, he told The Associated Press, "There has been a growing tension that goes beyond editorial differences and personal annoyances and gripes. It's not worth it to me." The anchor didn't divulge until later that he quit working for Fox News after he was fired from his position at "The Five." "I also thought it was very unfair that I was not judged objectively in our disputes, but rather that he was always favored," Rivera said on "The View." "I was the one ... suspended three times. My appearances, I had two, three appearances scheduled weekly, then biweekly, then monthly, then they kind of disappeared. They were canceled in the last day right before I was supposed to go on. So, I was really ticked off."
Dan Rather said he misses his old network
Long before Geraldo Rivera and Megyn Kelly were fired from their posts, news anchors like Dan Rather were getting the boot. In 2006, Rather was fired from CBS after viewers questioned a story he reported in 2004 about former U.S. President George W. Bush's military career. Prior to that, Rather had been at CBS for over 40 years, beginning his tenure with the network before some of his co-workers were born. Nearly 10 years after he was fired, Rather shared on a podcast that he stood by the report he made about Bush. "[W]e reported a true story. We didn't do it perfectly. We made some mistakes in the process of getting to the truth. But that didn't change the truth of what we reported," Rather said on "Awards Chatter."
About another 10 years after speaking out on "Awards Chatter," Rather returned to his former news home to share even more about his time at CBS News. "Without apology or explanation, I miss CBS," Rather said. "I've missed it since the day I left there. ... I gave CBS News everything I had. They had smarter, better, more talented people, but they didn't have anybody who worked any harder than I did," he added. After he left CBS, Rather continued reporting and conducting interviews for other television networks, but he never returned to a position as lofty as the one he held at CBS.