Tucker Carlson, only one in an extensive list of hosts fired from Fox

Tucker Carlson's sudden ousting from Fox surprised fans and detractors. He was one of the most prominent voices in the network and, therefore, one of the most influential media personalities in the US. But he was not the only host booted from Fox. In fact, Carlson is the latest in a long string of prominent lay-offs.

The timing of Carlson's firing is not so surprising: it comes in the middle of a perfect storm for Fox after getting behind Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

To back the former president, several hosts, including Carlson, shed doubt about the correct functioning of voting machines built by Dominion, a company with decades of experience. Those claims led to a lawsuit and a million-dollar settlement.

However, a more personal legal battle is being fought in the background: ex-producer Abby Grossberg's lawsuit against the network. According to CNN, Grossberg alleges rampant sexism and anti-Semitic behavior behind the scenes on Carlson's show.

Some media experts, like New York Times's Jeremy W. Peters, suggested that this second lawsuit may be the one to blame for Carlson's ousting. It wouldn't be the first one: most prominent alt-right voices fired from Fox have been involved in similar scandals.

The most obvious example is Bill O'Reilly. The former host of 'The O'Reilly Factor' had the network's highest ratings and helped define the bravado of the network, according to the Associated Press. This was until a New York Times investigation exposed his sexual misconduct in 2017.

The NYT revealed that Fox had paid a combined $13 million settlement to five women that O'Reilly had harassed. After the report, advertisers started falling out of the show, and the network finally decided to let him go.

Eric Bolling left the network in 2017 while he was under investigation for sexual harassment allegations. According to Politico, Fox said he left the company "amicably." Bolling hosted an afternoon show called 'The Specialists.'

Bolling's actions were exposed by The Huffington Post. In an investigation, the media outlet revealed that the host had sent "unsolicited lewd text messages" to at least two colleagues. He was first suspended and then fired.

According to Politico, something similar happened with Ed Henry. He was Fox News' chief White House correspondent and later a co-anchor of the weekday news program 'America's Newsroom.' However, he was fired after allegations of sexual misconduct were made by a former colleague.

The tendency goes up to the top of the chain, from hosts to top executives. Roger Ailes was the former Chairman and CEO of Fox News. He founded the channel in 1996 with Robert Murdoch. But he was forced to step down in 2016 with a $40 million payout after harassment accusations, as reported by Politico.

Despite the common ground, other prominent personalities have been fired from the channel for different reasons. Others have been victims of the harassment culture inside the media corporation.

Glenn Beck is an example. The host started his show on Fox News in 2009, but according to the Associated Press, his show sunk in the ratings and suffered an "advertiser boycott" two years later. The dislike for Beck came, unlike any other Fox personality, from his controversial opinions. He said President Obama had "a deep-seated hatred for white people."

Megyn Kelly was on the other side of the harassment spectrum. The famous reporter said President Donald Trump and the toxicity of primetime cable news caused her to abandon her post on the channel, according to declarations in 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show', collected by Business Insider.

Kelly's "probing questions during interviews and the 2016 Republican primary debates," according to Bussines Insider, caused a riff with President Trump, who openly criticized her show "multiple times," as she explained on 'The Ellen Show'. The network didn't defend the host.

Jeremy W. Peters told Michael Barbaro, host of the NYT podcast The Daily, that most high-profile firings at Fox, especially Tucker Carlson's, had to do with a power deployment from the network. Showing that Fox will always be above individuals, no matter how popular they are.