TV Host Pete Hegseth Already Had His Last Day at Fox News
"We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News and wish him the best of luck in Washington."
Updated Nov. 13 2024, 2:47 p.m. ET
The turnover at Fox News is pretty high — just ask Tucker Carlson, Glenn Beck, and Bill O'Reilly.
However, very few of their TV personalities have left the network because they were offered a job by the President of the United States.
That is exactly what happened to Fox & Friends Weekend host Pete Hegseth, who president-elect Donald Trump just announced would be his nominee for Secretary of Defense.
Along with being on Trump's favorite channel, Hegseth is a Princeton University graduate and a former officer in the National Guard.
So, is Pete Hegseth leaving Fox?
Pete joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014 and has been a host on Fox and Friends Weekend since 2017. Now, he is headed to the Pentagon.
"I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense. Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First," Trump said in a statement about Pete.
Immediately following the announcement, Fox shared that Pete's last day on the network was Tuesday, November 12.
"Pete Hegseth has been an exceptional host on FOX & Friends and FOX Nation and a bestselling author for FOX News Books for nearly a decade," a spokesperson for FOX News Media said in a statement.
"His insights and analysis, especially about the military, resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News and wish him the best of luck in Washington."
Pete made headlines before his nomination for comments he made about women in the military.
"I'm just saying straight-up, we should not have women in combat roles," he said on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast. "It hasn't made us more effective. It hasn't made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated."
Pete was at a center of a lawsuit in 2018 due to an axe-throwing incident at Fox.
In 2018, a lawsuit was filed against him over an incident that occurred in 2015. During the incident in question, Pete was throwing axes as part of a segment on Fox & Friends when he inadvertently hit Jeff Prosperie, a West Point drummer who was performing behind his intended target.
The lawsuit claims that Pete was “negligent, wanton, reckless and careless in, among other things, throwing an axe in an area where he knew or should have known that pedestrians were present.”
It further suggests that Prosperie experienced “severe and serious personal injuries to his mind and body, some of which, upon information and belief, are permanent with permanent effects of pain, disability, disfigurement and loss of body function.”
Shortly after the incident occurred, Prosperie posted in outrage on his Facebook page. “My leadership told me they were told there would be no axe throwing,” he wrote. “I think the anchor person went rogue and decided to throw it.”
It’s not clear whether the case was ever resolved.