In the wake of Fox News’ cease-and-desist letter to Tucker Carlson, we spoke with Los Angeles entertainment attorney Tre Lovell to better understand the potential legal situation. When asked about the controversial journalist’s best path, Lovell revealed that “non-compete agreements are not automatically enforceable.” “Carlson can challenge the non-compete by arguing that it infringes upon his freedom of speech and thus violates public policy,” he explained. “Moreover he can say that it is overly broad when Fox News tries to apply it to any media platform, essentially taking away Carlson’s ability to pursue his livelihood.”
He also told Nicki Swift that Carlson could claim Fox News took the first step in breaching his contract. “Tucker can argue that Fox breached the agreement first by terminating him and/or not fulfilling additional promises made during his employment, which may very well release him from other provisions of the agreement, including the non-compete,” he added. Lastly, Lovell revealed that Carlson may be able to argue that Twitter is not a direct competitor for Fox News, despite the contentious journalist racking up huge numbers. “Just because he is successful on Twitter does not automatically mean that Twitter is a direct competitor to Fox,” he explained. “Social media and cable news are arguably not competitors and have different audiences.”
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Nicki
