Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan both spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky in the months before Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, a major critic of the Ukrainian president, according to reports.
The 92-year-old News Corp executive chairman held an “unreported” call with Mr Zelensky earlier this spring, reported Semafor.
During the conversation, they reportedly discussed Ukraine’s conflict with Russia as well as the March 2022 deaths of Fox News Journalists Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova in the country.
The outlet also reported that Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corporation, held his own call with Mr Zelensky on 15 March.
While Mr Zelensky reportedly did not speak about Mr Carlson during the calls, the right-wing host exited the station on 24 April days after Fox News agreed to pay $787.5m to Dominion Voting Systems over election lies made on the channel.
News of the calls caught the attention of conservatives, who heaped criticism on Fox News.
Conservative activist Lauren Witzke, wrote: “Simply put: Tucker Carlson fired because he knew the truth about the war in Ukraine.”
And Brigitte Gabriel, who founded ACT For America, added: “Fox News is fake news.”
Mr Carlson regularly used his Fox News show to attack Mr Zelensky and the White House for providing billions of dollars in aid to fight back against Vladimir Putin.
He also criticised Mr Zelensky for wearing fatigues to the White House and said that he had dressed “like the manager of a strip club.”
The Washington Post reported in April that Rupert Murdoch had become tired of Mr Carlson’s antics on his channel and was “disturbed” by his stance on Ukraine.
Mr Carlson’s anti-Ukraine and seemingly pro-Kremlin position has made him a regular face on Russian state-controlled television.
