NEWSGeraldo Rivera Claims Fox News Always Took Greg Gutfeld's Side After They Frequently Clashed on-Air: 'I Was Hanging by a Thread'
Aug. 15 2023, Published 1:57 p.m. ET
Geraldo Rivera shared some new details about his time at Fox News.
The TV star, 80, who announced he was leaving the network in late June, claimed that as a co-host on The Five, he would frequently clash with Greg Gutfeld, leading to him getting suspended multiple times.
“They always took his side,” Rivera told Mediaite editor in chief Aidan McLaughlin and senior reporter Diana Falzone for this week’s episode of "The Interview" podcast. “I could sense that I was hanging by a thread.”
“I should have left a long time ago,” Rivera said. “But for various reasons, not the least of which was my own insecurity about where I would end up, I stuck around and I stayed too long at the dance.”
Ultimately, he's thrilled The Five wanted to let him go. “They they made a very pragmatic decision, a business decision. And it looks in retrospect that they made the right decision," he shared.
"Was I satisfied with how Fox handled the tensions? No. The other cast members were perceived to be far more significant to the overall thrust of the program than I was. And so I became a kind of collateral damage. If you look at how well that program has done since I’ve left, if anything, [ratings are] back up. So I can’t say that they’ve made the wrong decision," he added.
As OK! previously reported, Rivera posted the news on Twitter, revealing that he would no longer be on the network.
"It doesn't look like I am going to be on The Five — I mean, I am not going to be on The Five. I have been fired from The Five, and as a result of that, I quit Fox, so I will have more to say about that on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning," he said in the clip, which was posted to Twitter.
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Later on, Rivera admitted he feels "free at last" now that he's no longer on Fox.
"You know, you are muzzled, corporate discipline muzzles people," he said during an interview with CNN Tonight's Alisyn Camerota on Tuesday, July 18.
"First of all, they denied me permission to go on many shows over the course of my long career there. They have a very rigid, very controlling, kind of discipline," he added.
