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News of the cancellation came one day after
Dobbs, 75, was named as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit
filed by voting machine maker Smartmatic, which argued that
three Fox hosts, including Dobbs, falsely accused the company of
helping to rig the election against Trump.
Fox said the move to end Dobbs' show had been in the works
before the lawsuit as part of a revamp following the November
U.S. presidential election in which Republican Trump was
defeated by Democrat Joe Biden.
"As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers
programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new
formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox
Business," a Fox News Media spokesperson said. "This is part of
those planned changes."
On the Smartmatic lawsuit, Fox said on Thursday the network was
"proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend
this meritless lawsuit in court."
Dobbs, reached by text message on Friday, said he had no
comment.
The cancellation of Dobbs' show was first reported by the Los
Angeles Times, which said the anchor was unlikely to appear on
Fox channels again even though he remains under contract.
Trump issued a statement praising Dobbs on Friday evening.
"Lou Dobbs is and was great," Trump said in an emailed
statement. "Nobody loves America more than Lou. He had a large
and loyal following that will be watching closely for his next
move, and that following includes me."
Dobbs' show ran at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time on Fox
Business Network, and he appeared at times as a commentator on
Fox News Channel.
Starting Monday, the 5 p.m. show will be called "Fox Business
Tonight," and be repeated at 7 p.m.
In January, Fox announced that Larry Kudlow, a former top
economic adviser to Trump, would be hosting a new weekday show
on the Fox Business Network.
It also launched a new opinion show at 7 p.m. on Fox News.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and
Sonya Hepinstall)
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