Fox News star Jeanine Pirro was allegedly “demoted” to The Five following her false claims about the 2020 presidential election, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a surprising development to come months after Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit earlier this year, sources spoke out about Pirro’s alleged demotion from Justice with Judge Jeanine to The Five.
According to an upcoming book by Brian Stelter, at least two sources told the former CNN chief media correspondent that Pirro’s move to The Five was meant to be a “demotion” because Justice with Judge Jeanine was a “key promoter” of the false 2020 election and Dominion Voting Systems claims.
Justice with Judge Jeanine was canceled in January 2022, and Pirro joined The Five shortly after. Fox News ultimately settled with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in April 2023.
Sources also reportedly told Stelter that Pirro had a “rocky relationship” with Fox News management and that she “was a problem” due to her “stubborn, slavish Trumpiness.”
Pirro’s own executive producer allegedly called the 72-year-old host a “reckless maniac” while other Fox News insiders admitted that “nobody wanted to deal with her.”
Although Pirro gained a larger audience upon her “demotion” to The Five in January 2022, she was reportedly stripped of certain decisions she was once allowed to make as host of Justice with Judge Jeanine.
The switch reportedly made it easier for “the managers and lawyers” at Fox News to manage Pirro and avoid another potential defamation lawsuit, sources told Stelter.
“It was pointed out to me that The Five is not the cushiest job for a seventy-something former prosecutor to hold,” Stelter noted in his new book, Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy.
Meanwhile, a Fox News spokesperson refuted the claims that Pirro was “demoted” to The Five and called the demotion reports “inaccurate.”