According to WND, the high-profile business anchor’s attorney is now directly challenging the narrative that Bartiromo was fired or is no longer employed by Fox, calling such claims “unequivocally false” and accusing those spreading them of reckless disregard for the facts.
Bryan Freedman, a prominent Hollywood and media litigator who has represented numerous television personalities, issued a sharply worded statement on Friday defending his client’s record and disputing reports of her ouster.
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“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels. She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career,” Freedman declared, underscoring her ratings dominance and reputation among conservative viewers.
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He went on to blast media accounts suggesting she had been terminated or separated from the company, insisting: “The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false.”
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Freedman further warned that he is prepared to substantiate his claims with evidence, hinting at a potential legal showdown if necessary.
“Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth,” he said, signaling that Bartiromo’s camp believes it can prove Fox’s internal position is not what has been publicly implied.
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The lawyer’s statement stands in stark contrast to Fox News Media’s own official communication, which was terse and final in tone.
As WorldNetDaily previously reported, the company issued a brief notice on Thursday, Sept. 3, stating: “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media.
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“We thank Maria for her work over the last 12 and a half years and wish her all the best on her next chapter.”
NBC News added another layer of ambiguity, noting: “A Fox News Media representative, when asked about Freedman’s statement, said the company’s press release about parting ways with Bartiromo ‘speaks for itself.'”
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Despite the lawyer’s insistence that Bartiromo remains an employee under contract, viewers have seen a very different reality on screen.
Bartiromo has been conspicuously absent from her flagship programs, including “Mornings with Maria” and “Sunday Morning Futures,” with Jackie DeAngelis, Cheryl Casone and former Congressman Jason Chaffetz stepping in to host the latter over the past three Sundays.
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Her absence has not gone unnoticed by conservative commentators and loyal viewers who credit her with building a powerful platform for right-of-center economic and political analysis.
“That chair belongs to Maria Bartiromo,” political commentator David J. Freeman remarked pointedly, adding: “Fox can put whoever they want on the desk. America still knows who built that show and who owned Sunday mornings. Bring Maria back.”
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Some conservative journalists have suggested that what is happening to Bartiromo looks less like a straightforward firing and more like a form of corporate silencing of a prominent pro-Trump voice.
John Solomon at Just the News observed: “If she did something wrong she could have had her contract terminated. That’s a firing. This arrangement is more akin to paid censorship. Her show is off air but they keep paying her.”
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Others who have worked with Bartiromo or appeared on her programs are rallying to her defense, praising her willingness to challenge establishment narratives.
Investigative journalist Lara Logan stated: “I am honored to stand with Maria. She was always out front and a great reporter. I enjoyed being on her show and watching her set fire to the false narratives with real evidence.”
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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, himself effectively blacklisted from Fox News since the 2020 election, suggested that Bartiromo’s troubles with the network date back to her aggressive coverage of election irregularities.
He told Newsmax on Sunday regarding Bartiromo: “They were about ready to fire her in 2020 ’cause they believed she had gone too far on the 2020 election and I have to believe there’s been a situation like that for her throughout.”
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Giuliani argued that Fox’s corporate interests and international business ties, particularly in China, have increasingly put the network at odds with the populist, America First agenda championed by Donald Trump and supported by Bartiromo.
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He added: “Fox News is very much driven by the business interests of the family that owns it. You’ll see there’s a kind of pro-China view there. Also, because the family makes a lot of money in China, I believe that’s one of the reasons for their break with the president. It happened with a lot of very wealthy people. They broke with the president in ’18 and ’19, because he was being too tough on China. The Chinese interfere in very, very direct ways in our communication system.”
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The dispute over Bartiromo’s status comes against the backdrop of years of tension between Fox’s corporate leadership and its most populist, pro-Trump voices, particularly in the wake of the 2020 election.
Among others, as WorldNetDaily noted, Variety reported that Fox News “believes Bartiromo shared with the White House a directive that the network’s bosses issued to executive producers at Fox Business cautioning staffers against supporting outlandish claims made by Trump.”
Fox has publicly described Bartiromo’s removal from the air as “a business decision,” offering no further detail about the internal deliberations that led to her shows being canceled.
However, the network previously agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed in 2021 by Dominion Voting Systems, a case that intensified pressure on Fox to rein in hosts who questioned the integrity of the 2020 election.
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New reporting suggests that the immediate trigger for Bartiromo’s sidelining may have been her intention to give significant airtime to President Trump’s latest remarks on election integrity.
On Friday, Dylan Byers at Puck News reported that the controversy centered on Bartiromo’s planned coverage of Trump’s July 16 address focusing on election integrity and his doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential race.
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“As it turned out, Bartiromo had been planning to cover Trump’s speech on her show, according to sources familiar with her plans,” Byers wrote.
“She had also planned to book Peter Navarro, a senior counselor to Trump who has aggressively pushed the voter fraud narrative, to talk about the president’s remarks and the administration’s broader concerns over election integrity.”
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Byers reported that internal guidance from Fox Business Senior Vice President of Programming Ralph Giordano instructed producers not to support or amplify certain election-related claims, guidance Bartiromo allegedly shared outside the company.
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“In an interview on Friday, Navarro told me that when Bartiromo received [Fox Business Senior Vice President of Programming Ralph] Giordano’s guidance, she took a screenshot and forwarded it to him to tell him that management was not letting her cover the speech—or, in his words, ‘censoring’ it. Navarro subsequently passed that information ‘up the chain,’ he said, informing senior administration officials of the guidance. One high-ranking White House official, whom Navarro declined to identify, reached out to Fox News leadership to express their frustration with the decision. …”
According to Puck’s account, Fox executives were furious that internal editorial directives had been shared with Trump-world, viewing it as a breach of corporate discipline.
“Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace were angered by Bartiromo’s decision to share internal guidance with the administration. Nevertheless, Bartiromo continued to host her various shows for several weeks, up until her Fox Business broadcast on August 7, and her Fox News broadcast on August 9. Shortly thereafter, according to sources with knowledge of the timeline, Bartiromo was informed that the company would end her shows and she would not return to air, even for a signoff. Officially, Bartiromo remains under contract and is entitled to payment until 2028.”
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For many conservatives, the notion that a top-rated host could be effectively benched while still being paid through 2028 reinforces the perception that corporate media is willing to silence dissenting voices rather than openly debate contested issues.
That perception is only strengthened by the fact that Bartiromo was one of the few major network anchors consistently willing to give Trump and his allies a platform to air their concerns about election procedures, Big Tech censorship and the administrative state.
Trump himself reacted strongly to the news of Bartiromo’s removal from the Fox lineup, praising her professionalism and hinting that viewers would not easily accept her absence.
On Truth Social, he wrote: “I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great show(s) on FoxNews/Business. Three different shows, always number one. Maria is a total professional, and a true warrior. Her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy. God bless you, Maria!”
In the vacuum created by her departure from Fox’s airwaves, speculation has surged about Bartiromo’s next move, including whether she might join the Trump administration if he returns to the White House.
There have been rumors online suggesting Bartiromo could be tapped as the next White House press secretary, replacing Karoline Leavitt, who stepped down at the end of August to spend more time with her family.
Betting and prediction markets have even begun handicapping the race for the podium, placing Bartiromo among the leading contenders.
As of Sunday, Bartiromo was actually ranked in third place on the odds and prediction markets behind White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly and CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings to get the job as top spokesperson for Trump.
The speculation reached the White House briefing room last week, where reporters pressed Vice President JD Vance on whether Bartiromo was poised to become the new face of the administration’s communications team.
At Thursday’s White House press briefing, Vance was asked if Bartiromo were going to be the new press secretary.
“I don’t know, man. No, I don’t think so,” Vance responded, distancing himself from the personnel chatter while making clear his personal admiration for the embattled anchor.
“I just saw the news literally as I walked out the door. I love Maria. She’s an amazing person, amazing talent. I don’t get involved in the personal drama of media stations.”
Vance then lightened the mood with a pointed joke that nevertheless underscored the awkwardness of Fox’s position and the broader unease about how conservative voices are treated in legacy media.
Then with a sheepish grin on his face, Vance added, “In fact, I’d like to invite Peter Doocy [of Fox News] to come up here and answer a question about what happened to Maria.”
For now, Bartiromo remains off the air but, according to multiple reports, still under contract and being paid, a limbo that raises more questions than it answers about Fox’s commitment to robust, unapologetically conservative journalism.
Whether this standoff ends in a legal battle, a negotiated exit, or a high-profile move into a future Trump administration, the handling of Maria Bartiromo’s case has become a symbol of the growing rift between corporate media interests and the populist conservative base that once made Fox News the undisputed home of right-of-center America.
