Shep Smith breaks silence on why he left Fox News

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Smith, now host of the nighttime show “The News with Shepard Smith” at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC, told Amanpour that his presence on Fox had become untenable as opinion broadcasts on the network spread lies that animators knew to be lies.

“Nod whatever you want, but if you want to give your opinion, start with the truth and nod from there,” Smith said. “When people start from a false premise and mislead people, it is detrimental to society and it is the antithesis of what we should be doing: those of us who are so honored and grateful to ‘have a platform of public influence must use it for the right audience. “

Smith, who joined Fox News when it was founded in 1996, said he was proud of the work he was doing on the network, putting on a daytime news show that was increasingly at odds with what was being broadcast in Fox opinion broadcasts. Smith felt that by sticking to Fox News he could thwart the lies spread by Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and other prime-time hosts.

“I thought it was important that I stay there,” he said. “If you feel that Fox viewers were receiving false or misinformation, I was there to make sure they were right,” he said.

Smith thought that depriving viewers of news and replacing it with opinions “felt a little selfish,” he added.

But in the end, staying felt impossible, CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter reported shortly after Smith left. The breaking point for Smith came as tensions with opinion broadcasts grew too high.

For example, at the end of September 2019, host Tucker Carlson, at 8 p.m., mocked Smith for defending his friend and colleague Judge Andrew Napolitano after the judge was called “crazy” by one of the Carlson’s guests. Smith’s lack of voice defense from the network in the aftermath of the incident bothered him and the whole episode was factored into his decision to leave, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Network leaders relied on him to stay, but they failed. Smith announced his departure on the air, then immediately left the building.

“I stayed with this for as long as I could,” Smith said. “And at one point I realized I had hit a point of diminishing returns, and I left.

Smith told Amanpour that he continues to be bothered by what is reported on Fox.

“I don’t know how some people sleep at night,” Smith said of Fox News employees knowingly spreading lies. “I know there are a lot of people who have spread the lies and pushed them forward over and over again, who are smart enough and educated enough to know better.”

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