Sarah Palin and Fox Kiss and Make Up
Sarah Palin and Fox News had a bad breakup, but great news, guys! They're getting back together! Palin is going back to Fox as a paid contributor, Mediaite's Andrew Kirell reports, and her first appearance will be on Fox and Friends on Monday, because Sarah Palin can't stay famous without Fox. Network chief Roger Ailes said, "I've had several conversations with Governor Palin in the past few weeks about her rejoining FOX News as a contributor. I have great confidence in her and am pleased that she will once again add her commentary to our programming. I hope she continues to speak her mind."
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The relationship between Palin and Fox slowly went downhill after she became a contributor in 2009, Palin had warred with fellow Fox contributor Karl Rove in 2011 over her delay in announcing whether she'd run for president. She gave an exclusive interview to radio host Mark Levin — not Fox — when she opted out. Though Palin had a studio in her Alaska home set up for her Fox interviews, she started appearing on the network less and less. Last year, Ailes had reportedly grown frustrated with Palin, and in August, Palin complained on Facebook that Fox had cancelled all her interviews one night.
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Palin was making $1 million a year from her with Fox — its highest paid contributor — when she and the network parted ways in January. At the time, a Palin source told New York's Gabriel Sherman that she was happy to be out of the limelight: "She's been off the stage, she kind of likes it." She didn't like it for long. On Thursday, Palin issued a statement saying, "The power of FOX News is unparalleled. The role of FOX News in the important debates in our world is indispensible."
