Fox News: Glenn Beck Left Network 'To Save His Ass'

Fox News: Glenn Beck Left Network 'To Save His Ass'

Fox News did not take too kindly to Glenn Beck's recent words about why he left the network.

Beck, who left Fox News to start his own Internet TV channel, spoke at New York University on Friday. "If you stay in it too long, you become Norma Desmond,” Beck said about cable news. "I remember feeling, ‘If you do not leave now, you won’t leave with your soul intact."

A Fox News spokesperson pushed back in an email to Politico's Mike Allen, saying, "Glenn Beck wasn't trying to save his soul, he was trying to save his ass. Advertisers fled his show and even Glenn knows what that means in our industry. Yet, we still tried to give him a soft landing. Guess no good deed goes unpunished."

Beck left Fox News after a tumultuous two and a half years at the network. He drew high ratings, but his tenure wasn't without its share of controversy. Advertisers dropped Beck's show en masse after he called President Obama a racist, and tensions between Beck's camp and Fox News grew over other issues.

The two groups decided to part ways in 2011. Beck's comments on Friday echoed remarks he has made before. "I'm so sick and tired of being in the system," he said when leaving Fox News. "I’m not going to play the game anymore.”

Before You Go

Glenn Beck

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot