Nationally syndicated radio and podcast host Dan Bongino confirmed on Thursday that he had parted ways with Fox News.
Bongino, a former New York City police officer and U.S. Secret Service agent, made the announcement on his podcast Thursday, explaining that the network had been good to him — and good for him — over the last decade, but that recent contract negotiations had simply come up short.
Prior to his exit, Bongino hosted a weekly Saturday evening show on the flagship network called “Unfiltered,” and his “Canceled in the USA” ran on the network’s subscription-based Fox Nation.
JUST IN: Fox News parts ways with @dbongino — “We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors.”
Fox News will air @LawrenceBJones3 in place of Bongino on Saturdays. https://t.co/WFXVz2TeEx— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) April 20, 2023
“The show ending last week was tough. It’s not some big conspiracy theory, I promise you. There’s no acrimony,” Bongino said. “We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension. That’s really it.”
“I really enjoyed myself there. They were good for me for ten years,” he continued, adding, “It’s a sad day. They did give me the opportunity to do one last show, I don’t want you to think they showed me the door. That’s on me, not on them, but I thought it was best to go this way for now.”
Fox News also provided a statement, saying, “We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors.”
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As Forbes noted in a report on the popular host’s exit, ratings were not likely the cause for the split – Bongino’s Saturday show regularly topped the ratings, taking the top spot in prime time for the first quarter of 2023.
“We were the number one show 90 percent of the time. We had a great team,” Bongino agreed, and while he acknowledged that the timing was not optimal, he assured his audience that his departure was solely the result of failed contract negotiations and not because of the lawsuit that Fox News just settled with Dominion Voting Systems.
In place of “Unfiltered,” Fox News will air “Lawrence Jones Cross Country” this coming Saturday — and the network plans to announce a permanent replacement in the coming weeks.