Maria Bartiromo’s Own Staff Was Barred from Talking to Her for Weeks Before Her Ouster from Fox Was Announced: Source

Screenshot via Fox Business.

Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo’s own staffers were barred from talking to her in the weeks before her ouster was announced, Mediaite has learned.

Bartiromo’s surprising departure sent shockwaves through the media world Thursday after it was announced by the network in a tersely worded press release saying “Fox News Media Parts Ways With Maria Bartiromo,” adding that they thanked her “for her work over the last 12 ½ years and wish her all the best on her next chapter.”

Bartiromo’s executive producer Patrick Ignozzi was also sent through the exit doors, Mediaite previously confirmed earlier Thursday after it was first reported by Puck’s Dylan Byers. Earlier, a bombshell report from Oliver Darcy at Status revealed that Bartiromo had shared a confidential internal communication giving directives about the network’s coverage of President Donald Trump with the White House.

The message was in response to a speech Trump had given in July that promulgated his baseless claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election. According to Darcy, Fox had “issued guidance to senior employees instructing them to steer clear of giving credence to Trump’s delusional claims” in writing, and the network’s on-air personalities did in fact “conspicuously” avoid “covering the debunked claims the president had pushed.”

Darcy’s report added that either Trump or someone else at the White House communicated with Bartiromo about why Fox was not covering his remarks and she not only shared that network management had ordered everyone to avoid the story, but she even shared the message itself.

“In doing so, Bartiromo not only effectively betrayed her employer, but also disclosed confidential company information, violating the terms of her employment agreement,” wrote Darcy.

According to a source familiar with the matter, sharing the memo about Trump’s July comments was “not the only reason” that led to her abrupt defenestration.

The source confirmed that it was “a confluence of factors,” including Fox’s whopping $787.5 million settlement it had to pay to Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 over 2020 election fraud claims Fox had aired, plus another similar lawsuit from Smartmatic “still hanging out there.” Bartiromo was among the main on-air personalities cited in these lawsuits and has continued to periodically peddle in election denialism. A Fox News media spokesperson told Mediaite that the move was simply a “business decision” and declined further comment.

Comments Kevin O’Leary made on a May 11 episode of Mornings With Maria also factored in, the source said, in which the Shark Tank star accused nonprofit organizations that opposed his data center project in Utah of being secret agents of the Chinese Communist Party.

“The Kevin O’Leary thing was not good,” the source said, describing it as Bartiromo letting O’Leary come on air and “say something crazy about China paying people,” framing it as “breaking news” without calling up any of those who were being accused for comment.

O’Leary retracted his comments and Fox issued on-air apologies on multiple shows, but they were both sued for what the nonprofits said were false and defamatory statements.

It does seem that sharing the guidance with the White House was the final straw, the source said, and in the aftermath, Bartiromo was off the air since early August and completely isolated from her Fox colleagues on an order from network brass.

“In order to talk to her, you had to go to management,” the source said, and that’s how everyone “knew something was up.” If Bartiromo had simply been on vacation, staff would have been able to communicate with her, but the source added “they were instructed not to talk to her.”

“Even her own staff had to go through management,” the source continued. “People were freaking out.”

The source added that Bartiromo had reportedly been seen in the Hamptons in recent weeks but laying low and “nowhere to be found” with her usual friends, not returning calls and acting “almost like she was undercover.”

Puck’s Byers reported Bartiromo had just re-upped with the network — signing a three-year deal this past February. Per Byers, she has hired high-powered lawyer Bryan Freedman, who has represented other major news personalities including Don Lemon, Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelly after they parted ways with their previous employers.

Mere hours after her ouster, Fox had surgically excised her from their website, deleting her bio page and also the pages which housed the video content for both of her shows, Mornings With Maria and Sunday Morning Futures.

The plan for Mornings With Maria, Bartiromo’s daily weekday Fox Business program, is to rename it Mornings with Fox Business and bring in a rotating cast of anchors. Sunday Morning Futures, which Bartiromo hosted on Sundays on Fox News, will be hosted by Jason Chaffetz this coming weekend and then also rotate through other Fox personalities.

This article has been updated with additional information.

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