Former Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera spilled the tea on his ouster from the network During an appearance on “The View” and his “toxic relationship” with a co-star on “The Five.”
Rivera announced his departure from the Fox News’ top-rated show, “The Five,” in a June 21 statement, and later revealed he was fired. A week later, he left the network after 23 years.
“I was fired from “The Five.” I had a very toxic relationship with another of the cast members … so I got a call from two of the female executives and they said ‘you’re off ‘The Five,'” Rivera told the “The View” co-hosts. “But there are plenty of other things you can do, I had a year-and-a-half left on my contract. And I said, ‘well, stop it. If you fired me from the number one show then I’m going to quit.’ And that’s basically what happened, but in the interim, in the days that led up to my last day of work, they were so kind to me. They were really so nice and remembering all the things we did together over the 20 odd years.”
Rivera said the network always “squeezed” him into programs because his ideology did not fit Fox News. He also said his strained relationship with one of “The Five” co-host led to the firing.
“I thought it was very unfair that I was not judged objectively in our disputes, but rather he was favored and I was the one, I was this suspended three times, my appearances, I had two- three appearances scheduled weekly, then biweekly, 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.”
Rivera repeatedly got into heated spats with his former co-anchor Greg Gutfeld. In May 2022, Rivera called Gutfeld an “insulting punk,” prompting Gutfeld to say Rivera was “making a fool” of himself during a fiery argument about abortion. (RELATED: ‘Let Me Respond To Your Lie’: Greg Gutfeld And Geraldo Rivera Trade Barbs In Heated Exchange)
“The View” co-host Joy Behar pressed him on whether the co-host was a guy, to which Rivera confirmed. He then confirmed it is not Judge Jeanine Pirro, with whom he is good friends.
The former Fox News personality described his years-long friendship with former President Donald Trump and has much “affection” for him. He claimed the former president “became a crazy guy” after losing the 2020 presidential election and said he should never be elected again.
“He was always nice to me,” Rivera said about Trump.
“He didn’t know you were Puerto Rican?” co-host Sunny Hostin asked.
“A lot of Puerto Ricans like Donald Trump,” Rivera answered.
Despite leaving the network, Rivera assured Fox News has great and respected journalists. However, he criticized the network for its coverage of the 2020 election in its aftermath. He said he has “no idea” what his future plans are, but added he is not angry at anyone.
Fox News said it “reached an amicable conclusion with Geraldo over the past few weeks” in statement following his departure.