Juan Williams Steps Away From 'The Five'

Juan Williams, the lone liberal voice on the “The Five,” announced Wednesday that he is leaving the popular Fox News roundtable program.

The L-A Times reports Williams, whose final appearance as a regular was on Wednesday, told Fox News that he wanted to remain in Washington, D.C., after learning that the network wanted all members of “The Five” to return to the program’s midtown Manhattan studio June 1.

“We are incredibly grateful for his commitment to the show and its success over the last several years,” said Megan Albano, Fox News vice president for “The Five” and weekend programming. “As we started planning ‘The Five’ return to its New York City studio at our headquarters a few months ago, Juan decided to stay in Washington, D.C., permanently. We accommodated his request, understanding and appreciating his desire to remain closer to his family and recognizing that a remote co-hosting role on a roundtable in-studio program was not a long-term option.”

Since joining the program in 2015, Williams has commuted to New York to do the program alongside Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld and other rotating panelists.

Williams remains under a long-term contract at Fox News as a political analyst based in Washington.

Williams, 67, has been with Fox News since 1997 in various roles before taking over for Democratic political consultant Bob Beckel after he was fired from “The Five.”

The former NPR commentator is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and author of the companion book for “Eyes on the Prize,” a PBS series about the history of the civil rights movement.

Fox News came to the defense of Williams after he was fired from NPR in 2010 following comments he made on “The O’Reilly Factor.” In a discussion of how terrorism affects perceptions of Muslims, Williams said he was fearful of being on a plane with passengers dressed in Muslim garb.

“The Five” is often the second-most-watched show on Fox News, drawing as many as 3 million viewers daily, according to Nielsen.\

The Daily Beast reports one major driver of Williams’ sudden departure from the highly-rated opinion show was his run-ins with colleague Greg Gutfeld, who had wanted The Five to return to studio and felt Williams was the main reason they were filming remotely.

A Fox News spokesperson denied that “Gutfeld had anything to do with the move whatsoever” and referred to a statement from the showrunner Megan Albano who explained that Juan wanted to stay in DC.

While Williams’ presence on The Five as the lone liberal pundit had always lent itself to fiery on-air debates and clashes, the tension seemed to ramp up in recent months, especially after the show went back to filming remotely after Williams’ December covid diagnosis. And generally, the tension was highest with co-host Greg Gutfeld.

Besides having near-daily shoutfests with Williams during Five broadcasts, Gutfeld was also outspoken both behind the scenes and on the air about his desire that the program fully return to the studio.