Journalist and political commentator Geraldo Rivera has opened up about his recent exit from Fox News, sharing that his “ideology” no longer fits in with the network.
Rivera, who was a regular cast member on The Five, was fired from the afternoon panel show last month. Following his departure, Rivera took to Twitter to reveal that it was his decision to quit Fox News after being let go from The Five.
Appearing on The View on Thursday, July 13, Rivera shared more details of his exit from the news network, including what led to him ultimately stepping away.
“I got a call from two of the female executives, and they said, ‘You’re off The Five, but there are plenty of other things you can do,’” he explained. “I had a year and a half left on my contract. And I said, ‘Well, stuff it, if you fired me from the No. 1 show, then I’m going to quit.’ And that’s basically what happened.”
Rivera said that in the days leading up to his last day of work, his colleagues “were so kind to me… They were so nice, remembering all the things we did together over the 20-odd years.”
The long-time host joined Fox News in 2001 as a war correspondent and served in many different roles throughout his 20+ year tenure at the network. He had been part of The Five‘s rotating line-up of guests since 2022, serving as the show’s liberal commentator.
With his long track record at Fox News, The View hosts wondered why the network didn’t just build him another show. “They could have, I guess,” Rivera said, “but my ideology does not fit Fox.”
Rivera also confessed that a “toxic relationship” with a fellow co-host played a role in his firing. “I also thought it was very unfair that I was not judged objectively in our disputes, but rather that he was always favored,” he stated, not revealing the co-worker’s name but admitting it’s a male.
“I was the one… I was suspended three times. My appearances, I had two, three appearances scheduled weekly, then bi-weekly, 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.”
The Five‘s line-up regularly includes Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, and Greg Gutfeld.
“It’s not Jeanine. I love Jeanine,” he said before concluding, “Everything came to everything. Now I’m not mad at anybody. Now I’m a free person.”
The View, Weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC
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