Fox Has 'Oppo File' on Tucker Carlson: Sources

Should Tucker Carlson decide to come after Fox News in the wake of his ouster, the network is prepared, according to eight sources who spoke to Rolling Stone. They say Fox has collected damaging information on Carlson into what one source calls an "oppo file," and that the network is prepared to use it should things get ugly. Among the items allegedly in the file: internal complaints about workplace conduct, disparaging remarks about colleagues, and accusations that Carlson created a toxic workplace culture. Indeed, the former Fox producer whose discrimination lawsuit is said to be linked to Carlson's abrupt departure was interviewed on MSNBC on Tuesday and said, per the Daily Beast, that she believes her lawsuit, which alleged Carlson created a toxic work environment, "has something to do with" his firing. More:

• Abby Grossberg, the former producer for Carlson's show, said that Carlson and his top producer, Justin Wells (who was fired by Fox alongside Carlson) "were responsible for breaking me and making my life a living hell." She recalled demeaning photos of Nancy Pelosi she says were posted all over the office and said she was mocked and shut out of meetings by producers who wanted the show to be a "bro fest."
• In its defamation suit against Fox, Dominion Voting Systems cited Carlson's repeated use of the c-word, and Grossberg says that in advance of her deposition in that case, Fox lawyers had instructed her to lie about whether it bothered her.
• A separate piece at the Wall Street Journal alleges, citing sources, that Carlson's "vulgar, offensive messages about colleagues"—including, yes, the c-word—were among the reasons for his exit.
• Grossberg also got into other issues, most notably what she painted as an obsession Carlson had with painting the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the US Capitol as a "false flag" operation by the government. She says Carlson was "very set on finding an FBI person who was implanted in the crowd," and that he wouldn't be swayed in his efforts even when an attorney for one of the Proud Boys told him it was a dangerous conspiracy theory to trumpet.
• As for that "oppo file," Rolling Stone's sources say the head of Fox's communications department, Irena Briganti—whom the magazine refers to as "notoriously aggressive"—was involved in the compiling of it, and that she keeps such files on all the network's top talent. "Irena will never be shy about using these things," says one source. Adds another, "I gotta believe she’s ready to fight Tucker if/when he takes this war publicly."
• Fox, for its part, denies the existence of such a file, calling the claims "patently absurd and categorically false."
• Vanity Fair reports on a completely different theory behind Carlson's ouster: the religious overtones and references to prayer Carlson made during a speech at the Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary gala Friday night. "That stuff freaks Rupert out. He doesn’t like all the spiritual talk," a source says.

(More Tucker Carlson stories.)