- Attorney Claims She's Still FOX Employee
Fox News Media announced Thursday that it has parted ways with Maria Bartiromo, one of its highest-profile anchors, calling the move “a business decision.” A person familiar with the matter said Bartiromo passed a Fox Business Network directive for executive producers to the White House — instructions that may have cautioned staff against amplifying outlandish claims made by President Donald Trump.
However, her attorney, Bryan Freedman, on Friday rejected reports that she had been fired or was no longer a Fox employee. “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,” Freedman said. “Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise.”
He said those accounts showed “a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth.”
Sharing confidential internal guidance with an outside party would typically violate employment terms. Some details of Bartiromo’s actions were first reported by the media newsletter Status. Fox News declined to make executives available for comment.
Those business programs had weakened commercially.
Nielsen data showed “Mornings With Maria” averaging 5,000 viewers ages 25-54 in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 24,000 for CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” In total viewers, “Squawk Box” overtook her show in 2026, averaging 140,000 in the second quarter versus 123,000 for “Mornings With Maria.”
Furthermore, Variety reports Ad spending on her Fox Business programs fell to $3.7 million in 2025 from $8.9 million in 2022, according to iSpot — a drop of nearly 58%. Advertising on “Sunday Morning Futures” declined to $6.1 million from $7.8 million over the same period, down about 22%.
Freedman has previously represented Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson after their departures from NBCUniversal and Fox News.