Maria Bartiromo’s lawyer is threatening a legal showdown a day after she was fired from Fox News.
Bryan Freedman said reports that the longtime host was fired by the network are untrue and irresponsible. Fox said in a statement of its own on Thursday that “Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media.”
Freedman claims he has the receipts to prove Bartiromo, who worked at the network for 12 years, was not abruptly fired—though he declined to provide the supposed proof in an explosive statement sent to the Daily Beast.
“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false,” he wrote in a statement first obtained by the Daily Mail. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses, and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise.”
He added, “Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
Fox did not respond to an email seeking comment on Freedman’s threat.
The ouster of Bartiromo, 58, came after she was mysteriously off the air for three weeks.
Sources told Status that she was fired from the network because she had informed the White House about Fox’s secret instructions not to promote President Donald Trump’s election conspiracies on the air.
The incident in question occurred in July after the president’s crackpot primetime address in which he claimed that China interfered in the 2020 presidential election.
Sources told Mediaite that the supposed leak was “not the only reason” that Bartiromo got the ax, claiming that there was a “confluence of factors,” like editorial disagreements over the direction of her shows. The site also reports that her exit did not surprise many at Fox and that her staff has been “freaking out” about the future of her shows since August.
In June, Bartiromo was forced to issue an embarrassing on-air apology after Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary pushed an unsubstantiated claim about China during her show.
“Mr. O’Leary has now corrected the record and explained that he has no evidence that the Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Josh Kanter, Taylor Knuth, or Gabriel Finlayson are funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party,” Bartiromo said, referring to O’Leary’s claims that opponents of his Utah data center were being funded by China.
She added, “Fox News Media is likewise aware of no evidence that they are funded by, acting at the direction of, or coordinating with Chinese interests in opposing Kevin O’Leary’s project. Fox News Media apologizes for the error.”
Bartiromo is widely regarded as one of President Donald Trump’s favorite cable news hosts—so much so, he appointed her to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He did not appear pleased with her ouster on Thursday, but refrained from attacking Fox.
“I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on Fox News/Business,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
