Fox News Cancels ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’

(Bloomberg) -- Fox Corp. canceled the nightly show of Lou Dobbs, a fierce ally of former President Donald Trump, swapping the program for a series called “Fox Business Tonight” with rotating hosts.

The longtime financial correspondent, who hosted “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on the Fox Business Network, had alleged on his show that fraud cost Trump the presidential race, culminating in Dobbs being named in a $2.7 billion lawsuit filed Thursday against Fox by election-technology firm Smartmatic.

The company said the move was part of changes that had been in the works for its post-election lineup. “As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes,” it said in a statement Friday. “A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future.”

The Los Angeles Times reported on the change earlier, saying that Dobbs isn't immediately leaving following the cancellation, but is expected to eventually part ways with Fox News. Friday's episode will be the show's last, although Dobbs himself didn't appear on it.

The 75-year-old broadcaster, who also hosted a radio show, joined Fox in 2010 after previously anchoring financial programs for years on CNN. A Harvard University graduate with a degree in economics, he worked in government and banking before becoming a journalist. He's the author of “The Trump Century: How Our President Changed the Course of History Forever.”

The Smartmatic complaint also named Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro, as well as Fox itself and Trump's former attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. The suit accused the group and the company of deliberately spreading false information that Smartmatic had fixed the election for Joe Biden.

During one December interview with Powell, according to the suit, Dobbs reiterated her claim the election was a “cyber-Pearl Harbor,” adding that “we have tremendous evidence already of fraud in this election.”

Fox said the suit was without merit and that it would vigorously defend itself.

“Lou Dobbs is and was great,” Trump said in a statement given to the New York Times Friday. “He had a large and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next move, and that following includes me.”

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