Fox News Denies Rumors That Greg Gutfeld Was Behind Juan Williams Departing Fox News’ ‘The Five’

Yesterday, we reported that Megan Albano, VP for Fox News’ “The Five” and weekend programming, gave a statement to The Hollywood Reporter which suggested that Juan Williams was departing the program to for logistical reasons.

“As Juan Williams announced on air today, he will be leaving ‘The Five’ to live in Washington, D.C. full time. We are incredibly grateful for his commitment to the show and its success over the last several years. As we started planning ‘The Five’s” return to its New York City studio at our headquarters a few months ago, Juan decided to stay in Washington, DC permanently,” Albano stated.

The Daily Beast reported that while that was a part of the situation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, one major driver of Williams’ sudden exit was his run-ins with colleague Greg Gutfeld, who had wanted the show to return to studio and felt Williams was the main reason they were filming remotely.

They also reported that a Fox News spokesperson denied that “Gutfeld had anything to do with the move whatsoever” and referred to the statement from Albano.

The outlet went on to describe that one network insider said that Gutfeld had been pushing Albano for a while to get Williams removed from program and adde that Gutfeld was “really pissed they’re not all back in the studio together and he blames Juan for not being back.”

A former Fox News producer further elaborated, according to The Daily Beast, stating they were “very confident” that Gutfeld was behind Williams’ exit and a current staffer also added: “[Gutfeld’s] been wanting the show back in the studio for quite some time.”

Gutfeld and Williams rarely ever spoke with one another off-set, going to great lengths to avoid interacting with each other, something both former and current Fox employees could attest to, The Daily Beast explained before giving examples of their differences.

Whether Gutfeld was behind Williams’ exit from the show or not, many are happy to see him go and even some, such as America First Congressional candidate Jarome Bell, who we reported earlier said in a tweet, “I guess Juan got tired of being the village idiot. #TheFive #FoxNews. He can be like @TheLeoTerrell and admit he’s a Republican and come on over.”