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A longtime producer for Tucker Carlson has been ousted from Fox News after being found responsible for an on-air headline that referred to US President Joe Biden as a "wannabe dictator".
- The headline Alex McCaskill was found responsible for read: "Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested"
- Tucker Carlson defended his long-time producer, saying: "The women who run the network panicked"
- McCaskill has been named in a lawsuit alleging he "habitually belittled female employees" at Fox
The producer, Alex McCaskill, confirmed his exit in an Instagram post.
He had remained at Fox after Carlson, the network's most popular personality, was fired on April 24.
The reason for Carlson's sudden ouster, which came less than a week after Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $US787 million ($1.145 billion) to end a defamation case, has never been publicly explained.
It was during the last minutes of Carlson's former timeslot on Tuesday when the message appeared under separate on-screen boxes that showed Mr Biden and former US president Donald Trump talking.
It read: "Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested."
Carlson, in a Twitter monologue posted on Thursday, said "the women who run the network panicked" about the post and scolded the person responsible.
Carlson did not name the producer, but said he was "considered one of the most capable persons in the building".
The producer offered to resign with two weeks' notice, but was told to clean out his desk and leave immediately, he said.
Fox, in a statement on Wednesday, said the chyron had been taken down and the issue "addressed", without providing further explanation.
In an Instagram message posted on Twitter by Justin Baragona of The Daily Beast, McCaskill was pictured outside of Fox's Manhattan office holding a box.
"Today was my last day at Fox," read the message under his picture.
"It's been a wild 10 years and it was the best place I've ever worked because of the great people I met.
"But the time has come. I asked them to let me go, and they finally did. To all my friends there: I will miss you forever."
McCaskill was named this year in a lawsuit filed by a former Fox producer Abby Grossberg, who also worked on Carlson's staff.
Her lawsuit said McCaskill "habitually belittled female employees" at Fox.
According to the lawsuit, McCaskill said that a room at Fox set aside for employees to pump breast milk was a "waste of space" and should be replaced with a room for men to tan their testicles.
Fox has denied the allegations in Grossberg's lawsuit.
AP