Geraldo Rivera Leaves Fox News After 23 Years: 'I Got Fired from The Five So I Quit'

“After 23 years tomorrow 'Fox and Friends' could be my last appearance on the network," Rivera tweeted Thursday. "Thanks for the memories"

Geraldo Rivera is leaving Fox News after 23 years, chalking the decision up to his recent exit from The Five, which he now claims was a firing after earlier suggesting that he left at his own will.

In a video posted to Twitter Thursday, filmed during a rocky boat ride off the shore of New York City, Rivera, 79, says, "I've been fired from The Five, and as a result of that, I quit Fox. So I'll have more to say about that on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning, thank you."

The caption on the video went a step further, noting that his Friday appearance on Fox & Friends "could be my last" on the network.

A spokesperson for Fox News shared a statement on Thursday evening that reads: “We reached an amicable conclusion with Geraldo over the past few weeks and look forward to celebrating him tomorrow on Fox & Friends which will be his last appearance on the network.”

Rivera, who joined The Five in 2022, first announced his exit from the show on Twitter on June 21, and confirmed the date of his last appearance.

“Morning, it’s official, I’m off @TheFive,” he wrote at the time. “My last scheduled show appearances are Thursday and Friday June 29th and 30th. It’s been a great run and I appreciate having had the opportunity. Being odd man out isn’t always easy. For the time being, I’m still Correspondent at Large.”

During an interview with the Associated Press that same day, Rivera cited “growing tension” at The Five as a reason for vacating his co-host seat. “It has been a rocky ride but it has also been an exhilarating adventure that spanned quite a few years,” he told the outlet. “I hope it’s not my last adventure.”

“It’s not worth it to me," Rivera added at the time. “I’m 80 years old. I don’t want the friction. The Five is too intimate a place and it gets too personal.”

Related: Geraldo Rivera on 50 Years in TV, His Friendship with President Donald Trump and Biggest Regrets

Rivera, who turns 80 on July 4, went on to say that his relationship with fellow hosts on The Five is “a reflection of what the country is going through. ... It’s not an easy job if you take it as personally as I do.”

At the time, he told AP that it was his decision to leave The Five, but that Fox News management “didn’t race after me to say, ‘Geraldo, please come back.’”

Related: Geraldo Rivera Celebrates 50 Years in Television: See His Life and Career Throughout the Years

The Five is a five-person panel talk show. Four of the voices are conservative, while the fifth is liberal. Rivera appeared on the show as a rotating liberal personality — along with Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr. — alongside regular conservative voices Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Jeanine Pirro and Greg Gutfeld.

In particular, Rivera had a number of on-air clashes with Gutfeld. In April, Rivera told Gutfeld to “stop pointing at me” when they argued over electric vehicles, per AP. Meanwhile, last year Rivera called Gutfeld “an arrogant punk” during a discussion about abortion.

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Rivera joined the Fox News team in 2001 as a war correspondent.

Back in 2020, Rivera opened up to PEOPLE about his career and celebrated 50 years since he made his television debut.

"They used to say that my life has had more ups and downs than the cycle of roller coasters at Coney Island," Rivera told PEOPLE. "I believe that that’s true."

"I’m honored, I’m humbled by it," he continued of the milestone. "It exhilarates me and exhausts me."

After leaving law to pursue journalism — a decision his parents were initially "horrified" by — Rivera did his first story for Eyewitness News on Sept. 8, 1970.

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