Fact Check: Rumor Alleges 'The Five' Co-Host Jessica Tarlov Was Fired by Fox News. Here Are the Facts

Jordan Liles
·2 min read
1.5k
A rumor on X claimed that "The Five" co-host Jessica Tarlov was released by the news network.
John Lamparski/Getty Images

Claim:

"The Five" television co-host Jessica Tarlov was fired by Fox News in early February 2024.

Rating:

Rating: False
Rating: False

On Feb. 8, 2024, a user on X, @DougWahl1, claimed that Jessica Tarlov, who leans left politically and shares co-hosting duties on the Fox News TV show "The Five, was fired by the network and would no longer appear on the program.

The post showed pictures of Tarlov and co-host Jesse Watters. Watters leans right on the political spectrum.

"Jessica Tarlov has been released by FOX. She apparently was too successful at making her left leaning points, and showing up Jesse Walters," the user posted (archived), misspelling Watters' name. The post received nearly 1 million impressions – dubbed "views" by X – in less than 24 hours.

By email, Irena Briganti, the senior executive vice president of corporate communications for Fox News Media, told us of the rumor, "This is completely false."

In the same week the rumor began spreading, Tarlov was absent from "The Five," which is broadcast from New York. Her absence that week followed an appearance on the HBO series "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Feb. 2, which is broadcast from Los Angeles.

In January, Tarlov announced on "The Five" that she was pregnant and expecting her second child in April.

She joined Fox News as a contributor in 2017 and had appeared as a frequent guest on the network since 2014.

Sources:

“Jessica Tarlov.” Fox News, https://www.foxnews.com/person/t/jessica-tarlov.

“Jessica Tarlov Has an Exciting Announcement | Fox News Video.” Fox News, 10 Jan. 2024, https://www.foxnews.com/video/6344644873112.