Fox News Media parted ways with Maria Bartiromo on Thursday, September 3, 2026, ending her 12-and-a-half-year run as a prominent anchor across the network and Fox Business Network. The company announced the departure without specifying a reason, immediately rebranding her programs and installing rotating guest hosts.
Maria Bartiromo Departs Fox News After 12 Years as Programs Rebrand
Fox News Media abruptly severed ties with long-time anchor Maria Bartiromo, effective immediately on Thursday, September 3, 2026. The network offered no specific explanation for the sudden departure, releasing a brief statement that thanked her for her work over the past 12 and a half years and wished her well on her next chapter. Bartiromo had not appeared on air across any of her scheduled programs since early August.
The exit triggers an immediate overhaul of daytime and weekend programming on both Fox Business Network and the core Fox News Channel. Her three-hour weekday morning program, Mornings with Maria
, aired its final episode on Thursday morning and was renamed Mornings with Fox Business
with a rotation of anchors managing the time slot. Her weekly Friday program, Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street
, shifted to FBN’s Wall Street
with Cheryl Casone hosting initially before moving to rotating hosts. Meanwhile, former Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz stepped in to anchor her Sunday morning Fox News program, Sunday Morning Futures
, while network executives search for a permanent replacement.
Internal Conflict and Disclosures Involving the White House
While Fox News officially characterized the separation as a business decision,
independent media reporting revealed a more contentious backdrop. According to the newsletter Status, Bartiromo was ousted after sharing confidential internal communications from network executives with the White House. Network leadership had issued written instructions to senior employees directing them to steer coverage away from claims regarding the 2020 election following a primetime address by Donald Trump. When a White House official pressed Bartiromo about the lack of airtime given to the claims, she disclosed the network’s directive and shared the text message relaying management’s guidance, violating her employment agreement.
Bartiromo had built a reputation as a staunch defender of the administration, frequently interviewing the president and receiving his praise. Yet that alignment also drew intense scrutiny following the 2020 election.
Legal Fallout from Election Claims and Defamation Litigation
Bartiromo’s broadcasts frequently featured allegations regarding the 2020 presidential election that subsequently landed the network in severe legal jeopardy. In 2021, voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems launched a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, explicitly citing Bartiromo among the anchors who amplified false claims about rigged voting machines. That litigation was settled in 2023 for $787.5 million, with the network acknowledging that certain claims aired about Dominion were false.
Beyond the Dominion settlement, Bartiromo remained a named individual defendant in an ongoing multi-billion-dollar defamation suit filed against Fox by Smartmatic over election-related broadcasts. Until her departure, she was the only individual defendant in the Smartmatic case still employed by the network, with a court hearing held on the same day as her exit ahead of a scheduled trial. More recently, in June, Fox News issued an on-air apology read by Bartiromo after entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary made false accusations on her program regarding foreign funding of opponents to his Utah data center, a segment that triggered a separate defamation lawsuit from local nonprofits.
Transition from Financial Journalism Pioneer to Cable News Mainstay
The departure closes a decades-long career arc that began in traditional financial reporting. Before joining Fox Business in 2014, Bartiromo spent 20 years at CNBC, where she earned a reputation as a trailblazer. She became the first journalist to report live daily from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and anchored high-profile programs including Closing Bell
.
Upon moving to Fox, she expanded her footprint from financial markets into political commentary, securing a massive audience share while deepening her ties to the political figures she covered. Political reactions to her departure reflected her polarizing tenure. Vice President JD Vance addressed reporters following the announcement, calling her a dear friend and an amazing talent, while dismissing speculation that she might transition into a role as the next White House press secretary. Neither Bartiromo nor her representatives issued an immediate public statement regarding her departure.
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