Maria Bartiromo Was Not Fired by Fox News, Her Attorney Says

Prepare for a bit of whiplash because, despite all evidence to the contrary, Maria Bartiromo is denying she was fired by Fox News.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, she has retained lawyer Bryan Freedman (an attorney who’s also represented Justin Baldoni, Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo, and other high-profile clients), and he issued a statement on her behalf that denied “false” claims that she was no longer an employee at Fox News.

“For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number-one-rated television shows on Fox channels. She has been, without question, one of the hardest-working journalists throughout her award-winning career,” his statement, provided to THR, claimed.

“The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false. Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”

Bartiromo’s last day on air was hosting Fox Business Network’s Mornings With Maria on August 7.

Fox News announced Bartiromo’s departure from the network in a statement issued on September 3, which read, “We thank Maria for her work over the last 12 ½ years and wish her all the best on her next chapter.”

Her show, Mornings With Maria, was subsequently retitled Mornings With Fox Business and will feature rotating anchors in her place.

According to a report from Status, Bartiromo, a veteran of business news coverage who covered Wall Street at CNBC before joining Fox News, was accused of leaking an internal document, a text from a Fox executive, to the White House. The contents of the correspondence reportedly related to the network’s decision to limit coverage of Donald Trump‘s primetime speech about the 2020 election, in which he claimed others, including China, had interfered in the 2020 election (which he lost to Joe Biden).

The report indicated that her producer, Patrick Ignozzi, was also fired.

Fox News previously settled a $787 million defamation lawsuit from Dominion over its airing of claims that that its voting machines were switching votes from Trump to Biden. Bartiromo was one of the anchors involved in the allegation.