Geraldo Rivera told the women of The View that a ‘toxic relationship’ with a co-host on panel show The Five preceded his departure from the network after 23 years in his first post-Fox appearance.
Weeks after departing the right-wing network, Rivera told The View he was embroiled in a ‘very toxic relationship’ with one of his male co-hosts prior to his firing from Fox’s The Five, which was announced on June 29.
The longtime TV presence did not reveal the host’s name but claimed network executives always ‘favored’ the co-host after their on-air disputes. Rivera frequently sparred with Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld during the panel show – though Watters recorded a personal message for the departing host, which was featured during the latter’s on-air sendoff.
The 80-year-old journalist doubled down on claims he was suspended three times from the afternoon panel show and began to have his scheduled appearances limited by executives.
The unnamed co-host is evidently not the only former colleague Rivera has left on bad terms with – he also used his appearance as an opportunity to slam former Fox superstar Tucker Carlson, saying he will ‘never forgive’ him ‘for what he did about January 6.’
Rivera told the ladies of The View that prior to his firing from Fox’s top-rated panel show The Five, he had a ‘toxic relationship with one of the cast members’
Rivera often sparred uncomfortably with Fox funnyman Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters, when they appeared on The Five together – but he did not reveal which co-host he had the ‘very toxic relationship’ with
Getting into more detail about the toxic relationship that was the beginning of his end at Fox, Rivera said: ‘I thought that it was very unfair that I was not judged objectively in our disputes, but rather he was always favored and I was the one I was suspended, you know, three times.’
He aired his frustration about his appearances allegedly being canceled at the last minute.
‘My appearances, I had two, three appearances scheduled weekly, then bi-weekly, then monthly then they kind of disappeared, they were canceled at the last day you know right before I was supposed to go on, so I was really ticked off.’
At that point, co-host Joy Behar said: ‘So we know it’s a guy?’ about the colleague with whom Rivera feuded.
‘It’s a guy. It’s not Jeanine, Janine I love Jeanine, I discovered Jeanine,’ said Rivera, referring to Fox personality Judge Jeanine Piro.
On revealing which host things got toxic with, Rivera said: ‘I may get there,’ but for now internet sleuths will have to piece together the puzzle.
The five female co-hosts had kicked off the show by blasting Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, and the state of the Republican party writ-large.
Token conservative host Alyssa Farah Griffin, formerly a frequent Fox news guest and self-identified viewer, agreed with her progressive co-hosts that the network will need to reform itself entirely to again become a respected news provider.
Rivera spoke highly of many of his former Fox colleagues, commending both their journalistic work and the way they treated him on his way out, but condemned the network absolutely for its coverage of the 2020 election and post-January 6 coverage.
He specifically singled out former Fox host Tucker Carlson, whose coverage of January 6 and its aftermath, Rivera described as unforgivable.
Carlson, he said was an excellent writer,’ ‘charismatic in his presentation’ and the show he used to host ‘pretty good,’ but he ultimately drifted into ‘murky’ waters when he began espousing ‘conspiracy theories’ about January 6.
Following Carlson’s shocking April ouster, Rivera tweeted: ‘I don’t wish ill on anybody, but there is no doubt – as I said at the time – Tucker Carlson’s perverse January 6 conspiracy theory was “b******t.”‘
‘Having lost the election President Trump incited an insurrection that sought to undermine our Constitutional process.’
Rivera had many times criticized the former Fox host’s downplaying of the violent Capitol riots as ‘nothing more than a political protest that got out of hand’ as ‘inflammatory and outrageous and uncorroborated.’
At that point, Gutfeld, perhaps the frontrunner suspect to be named Rivera’s ‘toxic’ workplace rival wrote: ‘You’re a class act Geraldo. A real man of the people.’
‘Fox had a moral crisis after the election,’ Rivera told the panel, adding that there was no place left for him at the network, despite having a year-and-a-half left on his contract, because his ‘ideology does not fit Fox’
The female co-hosts of the popular daytime talk show questioned Rivera about his time at Fox, the reason for his departure, and his relationship with Donald Trump
Rivera said he will ‘never forgive’ former Fox host Tucker Carlson for his coverage of January 6 and its aftermath
Rivera shared the ‘liberal’ seat with with Jessica Tarlov and former congressman Harold Ford Jr. – giving voice to opinions that are relatively unpopular with Fox’s viewing audience
‘He lost the election and became a crazy guy,’ said Rivera, noting that Trump had given him significant access to the White House during his term.
‘Fox had a moral crisis after the election,’ he said, adding that there was no place left for him at the network, despite having a year-and-a-half left on his contract, because his ‘ideology does not fit Fox.’
He said that some weeks ago, he got a call from two female Fox executives who told him he was being fired from The Five, but that there was room to fit him in elsewhere on the network.
In turn, he told the executives that if they were firing him from the network’s top performing program, he would quit – and that’s ‘basically what happened,’ he said.
Ultimately, Rivera admitted that he ‘should have left Fox’ in 2011, after the death of Osama Bin Laden, which he announced on air.
He said that the radical Islamic terrorist who plotted the 9/11 attacks was the reason he went to Fox, and when the saga concluded with his death at the hands of US Navy SEALs, he should have recognized his time was up.
Rivera also spoke about the prospect of Donald Trump regaining the Oval Office during the next presidential election.
He wobbled on his tone toward Trump, recounting an affectionate personal history with the former president, recalling a time when the billionaire politician was a social character around New York, and praising him for not kicking him off The Celebrity Apprentice.
He added, however, that he will devote the rest of his journalistic career to ensuring that he is never reelected president.
‘He lost the election and became a crazy guy,’ said Rivera, noting that Trump had given him significant access to the White House during his term.
Co-workers to the end: The Fox and Friends co-hosts jokingly wore fake mustaches at one point to honor their former Fox colleague
Prior to his departure, Rivera spent the last few years moving away from his once-conservative viewpoints and becoming more and more antagonistic toward the hosts and anchors of the network that employed him.
He supported Donald Trump personally, though not politically, up until the January 6 Capitol riot, when his views on a number of issues swung to the left.
The veteran broadcaster started his career as a local journalist in New York in the early 1970s, before moving on to being a war correspondent.
It was his expose revealing the horrific conditions at a Staten Island facility housing developmentally disabled children and adults that made him a national name.
Rivera won a Peabody Award and national plaudits for exposing the awful conditions and abuse of patients at Staten Island’s Willowbrook State School, as well as Rockland County’s Letchworth Village.
He also ran a special opening gangster Al Capone’s vault in the basement of a Chicago hotel. The vault was empty, but the spectacle drew a huge audience.
In 2011, Rivera famously questioned Casey Anthony over the death of her daughter, calling her a ‘selfish, narcissistic, self-involved s***.’
The journalist suffered a broken nose while fighting racists while taping ”Teen Hatemongers” on his television talk show.
The violence broke out after John Metzger, a 20-year-old guest representing the White Aryan Resistance Youth, insulted a black guest, Roy Innis, calling him an ‘Uncle Tom.’
Rivera also suffered a broken nose while fighting racists while taping ”Teen Hatemongers” on his television talk show in 1988
Boots on the ground: The former co-host of The Five has been a professional reporter since the 70s; seen in a Wounded Soldiers in Guatemala segment in 1978
The veteran broadcaster started his career as a local journalist in New York in the early 1970s, before moving on to being a war correspondent
In 2021, Rivera signed a new multi-year deal at FOX to serve as a correspondent at large.
As part of that contract, he was slated to host a new show for FOX Nation streaming service, Cops: All Access, a recap and retrospective program for Cops.
Rivera, who celebrated his 80th birthday just days after he resigned, was shown a montage of his best moments from over the years on his last day at the network, which he described as ‘deeply touching’.
He added: ‘Every scene brings back a visceral reaction. You remember how you were feeling when it was happening. It has been infinite adventure and taken me to four corners of the world.
‘I have such affection for the people in this building, I really do. I feel emotional and deeply moved. I will always remember this morning.
‘It is something that I didn’t expect. This celebration is beyond anything we’ve ever done.’
In a statement after Geraldo’s resignation, Fox said: ‘We reached an amicable conclusion with Geraldo over the past few weeks and look forward to celebrating him on Fox and Friends on Friday morning which will be his last appearance on the network.’
