Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo’s own staffers were reportedly prohibited from speaking with her during the weeks leading up to her abrupt departure from Fox News Media.
The network announced Thursday that it had parted ways with Bartiromo after 12½ years, thanking her for her work and wishing her well in her “next chapter.”
Bartiromo’s executive producer, Patrick Ignozzi, also left the network, according to reports.
Her exit came after Status reported that Bartiromo shared a confidential internal communication about Fox’s coverage of President Donald Trump with the White House. The guidance reportedly followed a July speech in which Trump repeated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
According to the report, Fox instructed senior employees not to give credibility to those claims. Either Trump or another White House official later contacted Bartiromo about why the network had avoided covering his remarks. Bartiromo allegedly disclosed that management had issued the directive and shared the internal message itself.
A source familiar with the matter said the incident was “not the only reason” for her departure, describing the decision as the result of “a confluence of factors.”
Those factors reportedly included Fox’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 over election-fraud claims aired by the network, along with a similar lawsuit from Smartmatic that remains unresolved. Bartiromo was among the Fox personalities cited in the litigation.
A Fox News Media spokesperson characterized Bartiromo’s departure only as a “business decision” and declined further comment.
The source said comments made by Kevin O’Leary during a May 11 episode of “Mornings With Maria” also played a role. The “Shark Tank” star accused nonprofit groups opposing his Utah data-center project of secretly working for the Chinese Communist Party.
The source criticized the program for presenting the accusation as breaking news without contacting those accused for comment. O’Leary later retracted the remarks, while Fox issued apologies during multiple broadcasts. Both were subsequently sued by the nonprofits, which called the claims false and defamatory.
Sharing the internal guidance with the White House appeared to be the final straw, the source said. Bartiromo had reportedly been off the air since early August and isolated from colleagues under orders from management.
Staff members who wanted to contact her allegedly had to seek approval from network executives.
“Even her own staff had to go through management,” the source said. “People were freaking out.”
Bartiromo had reportedly signed a new three-year Fox contract in February and has retained attorney Bryan Freedman.
Hours after announcing her departure, Fox removed Bartiromo’s biography and show pages from its website. “Mornings With Maria” will become “Mornings with Fox Business” with rotating anchors, while Jason Chaffetz will host “Sunday Morning Futures” this weekend before other Fox personalities rotate into the program.
UPDATE: John Solomon has now reported that Bartiromo, although she has been yanked off air by the network, will still be receiving a paycheck for the rest of her contract.
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