Former Fox News contributor Geraldo Rivera joined the ladies of ABC’s “The View” on Thursday and blamed a “very toxic” relationship with a former co-host on “The Five” for his departure from the network.
Rivera ended a two-decade run as a Fox News correspondent and contributor on June 30. The network offered him a sendoff with a cake as well as a number of goodbyes and well-wishes.
The high-profile exit came after months of tensions with then-colleague Greg Gutfeld both on and off the air.
On “The View,” the 79-year-old said he had a “very toxic relationship with another of the cast members” on “The Five,” but he declined to name any names.
Rivera said he never fit in ideologically at Fox News but acknowledged the network brass tried to find him another program to join after it was apparent he would no longer be a fixture on “The Five.”
He said he would not accept a demotion from cable’s most-watched show.
“If you fired me from the No. 1 show, then I’m going to quit. And that’s basically what happened,” Rivera said.
In an obvious reference to Jesse Watters, Joy Behar asked him if his nemesis was “Smeshy Shwaters.”
Rivera laughed as he dismissed the question, but he left no doubt that the colleague with whom his relationship had unraveled was male.
“I thought it was very unfair that I was not judged objectively in our disputes, but rather he was always favored,” he eventually said.
When pressed if the tension was with Jeanine Pirro, Rivera said he discovered the former judge and adored her. “Check the internet,” he said.
After being fired from Fox News’ ‘The Five,’ @GeraldoRivera tells #TheView exclusively he left the network because his “ideology does not fit Fox.”
“If you fired me from the number one [Fox News] show, then I’m going to quit,” he says he told executives. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/xmTjjsGfvr
— The View (@TheView) July 13, 2023
Rivera concluded that his exit from the network was a long time in the making and that he is not upset at anyone.
After Tucker Carlson was ousted by Fox News in April without any explanation to the public, Rivera and Gutfled traded barbs on Twitter.
WARNING: The following tweet contains vulgar language that that some viewers may find offensive.
I don’t wish ill on anybody, but there is no doubt-as I said at the time-Tucker Carlson’s perverse January 6 conspiracy theory was “bullshit.”
Having lost the election President Trump incited an insurrection that sought to undermine our Constitutional process.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) April 26, 2023
You’re a class act Geraldo. A real man of the people. https://t.co/20LOwVzXwS
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) April 26, 2023
Thank you @GregGutfeld for your kind remarks https://t.co/MQFoVmWFm7
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) May 4, 2023
Really really sick of seeing Durante-nose Geraldo’s ugly face. Thank God, he was fired!
I am glad he”s gone. HE may have been a good investigative journalist at one time, now he’s just a conceited liberal who has no common sense.