Maria Bartiromo’s final weeks at Fox Business were marked by a deep freeze inside the network, with staffers reportedly instructed not to communicate with the veteran anchor before her sudden departure.
Bartiromo, 58, a longtime face of the Fox Business lineup, was abruptly removed on Thursday after the company released a terse statement saying it had “parted ways” with her.
Status News reported that the breaking point involved allegations that Bartiromo told President Trump about internal Fox guidance directing senior employees to avoid validating his false claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen.
However, sources told Mediaite the alleged leak was “not the only reason” behind her exit. Within Fox, they said, the move did not come as a shock, as members of Bartiromo’s team had been “freaking out” for weeks over the uncertain future of her programs.
Network insiders told the outlet that Bartiromo’s relationship with Fox executives had deteriorated because of a “confluence of factors,” including repeated editorial clashes over the direction and tone of her shows.
This reportedly included her role in Fox’s $787 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 over its peddling of Trump’s election claims, and several botched interviews on the air this year.
As Bartiromo’s relationship with Fox bosses reportedly fell apart, sources said her staff were barred from even speaking with her, while she laid low in the Hamptons and was ‘nowhere to be found.’
Bartiromo was reportedly so un-reachable that it was ‘like she was undercover’, with her future in limbo for weeks before she exited this week.
Ousted Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo was completely iced out at the network as her staff were barred from talking to her in the weeks before her departure, reports say.
Reports claimed Bartiromo had shared a confidential internal memo with President Donald Trump about Fox News’ decision to limit coverage of his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. She is pictured above with husband Jonathan Steinberg, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
Bartiromo Had Been Clashing With Fox for Months
Sources said that while Bartiromo’s alleged leak to Trump may have been the final straw, she had been clashing with executives for some time.
Alongside her role in peddling Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims that led to the huge settlement with Dominion, another similar lawsuit from Smartmatic that is ‘still hanging out there’ had also been hurting her status at the network.
Amid the breakdown of Bartiromo’s relationship with Fox executives, her staff were then ordered not to even attempt to speak with her.
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‘In order to talk to her, you had to go to management,’ the source said, adding that her staff had known for weeks that ‘something was up.’
‘People were freaking out,’ the source said.
As Bartiromo was booted from the network, her longtime producer Patrick Ignozzi was also ousted.
Amid reports that she leaked classified internal information to the Trump administration, the president quickly defended her on Thursday in a Truth Social post.
Trump Rallies Behind Bartiromo After Fox Ousting
As Bartiromo was booted from the network, her longtime producer Patrick Ignozzi was also ousted, Puck News reported.
Amid reports that she leaked classified internal information to the Trump administration, the president quickly defended her on Thursday in a Truth Social post.
‘I can’t believe Maria Bartiromo is no longer going to have her great shows on Fox News/ Business,’ Trump wrote.
‘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!’
Bartiromo has since reportedly hired attorney Bryan Freedman to guide her through her termination, after the high-powered lawyer previously represented other major ousted news personalities including Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon.
She was quickly removed from Fox News’ website, with her bio page and show content erased from online.
Her shows, Mornings With Maria and Sunday Morning Futures, are now set to be hosted by a rotating cast of anchors and Fox personalities in the coming weeks.