Tucker Carlson has branded rumours he was set to launch his show on a TV channel in Russia as “absurd.”
The right-wing former Fox News host addressed it after video clips of his online showed up in apparent TV commercials in Russia.
“The high-profile American presenter is moving to another level. Here,” BBC journalist Francis Scarr wrote on X earlier this month, translating a video that seems like an advert for Carlson’s show Tucker launching in Russia.
The video features clips of Carlson saying “Russia” repeatedly. At the end of the video, Carlson can be heard saying “24,” perhaps an allusion to Rossiya 24, the channel promoting the alleged program.
Scarr added, “In a new ad, Russian state TV’s rolling news channel Rossiya 24 seems to say that Tucker Carlson has landed himself a new job there.”
In response to the apparent advertisement, Carlson told Insider via text message: “It’s absurd. Come on. Did you actually believe that?”
On 22 September, Scarr posted an image of the Tucker graphic from the video, writing, “It looks increasingly like Tucker Carlson is going to have his own dubbed show on Russian state TV’s rolling news channel.”
The text under “Tucker” says “on the weekend,” according to a translation, perhaps indicating that the program would be airing soon.
Carlson further emphasised to the outlet that he was not involved. “I’d never ever heard of the TV channel before some reporter texted me about it this morning,” he said.
When asked if he would ever consider partnering with Russian state TV, he replied, “Of course not. I’m an American.”
Carlson’s representative told Forbes that the alleged show was “fake news,” adding that Carlson “knows nothing about this.”
The former Fox News anchor currently hosts a show on X called Tucker after being taken off the air by Rupert Murdoch in the wake of the Dominion lawsuit settlement.
