Geraldo Rivera Teases Retirement, Possible Fox News Exit
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With his relationship with Fox News apparently souring, Geraldo Rivera is thinking about retirement, and said he will announce his next career move in a week on Twitter and “The Five,” the show he will exit next week.
Rivera posted on Twitter Friday that he had spoken to Brian Kilmeade on his WABC radio show and said, “I am unsure about my next career move & will announce next Friday here on Twitter & Live on @TheFive whether I stay with Fox or do something else, with your support.”
The correspondent for the conservative news network, who was recruited by founder Roger Ailes in 2001, said June 30 will be his last appearance on the talk show.
While the post generated a few inevitable references to his ill-fated 1986 live excavation of Al Capone’s vault, most of the comments were positive.
Some followers suggested that the social media platform may be all the veteran journalist needs. “5 to 10 minutes every couple of days on Twitter would be great,” suggested Thomas Fabick, who identifies himself as a retired architect. “We need your view.”
Another fan asked, “Why not simply retire?”
“That is really the $64 question,” Rivera responded. “I am 80 and I’ve been doing this for 52 years.”
“The problem with retiring though is my restless energy when it concerns issues important to the American people,” he continued. “I feel the need to speak out, as long as some people want to listen.”
The latest public musings follow the announcement of his departure from “The Five” after just a year, thanks to “a growing tension that goes beyond editorial differences,” Rivera told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
“There has been a growing tension that goes beyond editorial differences and personal annoyances and gripes,” Rivera continued. “It’s not worth it to me.” He described working on “The Five” as a work environment that was “too intimate” and “too personal,” where he seemingly implied that “friction” was often created.
“It has been a rocky ride but it has also been an exhilarating adventure that spanned quite a few years,” Rivera said. “I hope it’s not my last adventure.”
Rivera has been a household name in news for decades after winning a Peabody Award, broadcast journalism’s highest honor, for his work exposing the neglect and abuse of developmentally disabled people living in Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School in 1972. He’s seen multiple career ups and downs, from being the first network television correspondent to mention “AIDS” by name in 1983 to being fired by ABC over a story involving the Kennedys to the Al Capone escapade, which was watched live by millions.
He had a long-running syndicated talk show, “Geraldo,” in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and then moved to CNBC where he hosted “Rivera Live,” until he was recruited to cover the War on Terror for Fox.
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