Maria Bartiromo's attorney has disputed reports that Fox News fired the longtime anchor, insisting the network's characterization of her exit is entirely wrong.

Attorney Bryan Freedman, in a statement to the Daily Mail, called coverage describing Bartiromo as fired or no longer employed by Fox "absolutely and unequivocally false," and said the broadcaster and her legal team were willing and able to prove it.

"Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise," Freedman said. "Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth."

Fox News Media announced Thursday that Bartiromo was "no longer with" the network after more than 12 years, effective immediately. In a statement, a Fox spokesperson thanked her for her work and wished her well "on her next chapter." The network said her Fox Business program will be renamed and taken over by a rotating group of anchors, while her other show will drop her name entirely.

Freedman's forceful denial comes amid competing accounts of what drove the split.

Status News reported that the final straw was an allegation that Bartiromo leaked internal guidance to President Donald Trump — guidance in which Fox executives had instructed senior staff to avoid validating his unfounded 2020 election-fraud claims.

But sources told Mediaite the alleged leak wasn't the sole factor, describing a breakdown between Bartiromo and network executives over editorial disagreements. Those tensions included her role in Fox's $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems and a still-pending Smartmatic lawsuit.

The Dominion settlement, reached in April 2023 just as a trial was set to begin, resolved the voting-machine company's defamation suit over Fox's airing of false 2020 election-fraud claims. Court filings in that case showed Bartiromo was among the hosts whose programming was central to the dispute; Smartmatic's separate defamation suit against Fox remains ongoing.

Sources described her relationship with Fox leadership as having deteriorated for some time, with her staff reportedly barred from communicating with her in the weeks before her departure became public.

Trump weighed in on Truth Social shortly after Fox's announcement, defending Bartiromo as "a total professional, and a true warrior" and saying he "can't believe" her shows were ending, adding that "her fans, of which there are many, will not be happy."

Freedman is a high-profile media attorney who has previously represented other prominent ousted television figures, including Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon, in disputes with their former networks. His past cases show that high-profile anchor departures at major networks have, in recent years, increasingly ended in legal or public-relations battles rather than quiet exits.

His involvement, combined with his explicit reference to a possible courthouse fight, signals Bartiromo's camp may be preparing legal action over how her departure has been portrayed publicly. What remains unresolved is whether the dispute proceeds to litigation or settles into competing public narratives, with the Smartmatic case continuing in the background.

Source: Raw Story