Cable news underwent a dramatic shift on Monday, as Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, its most popular prime-time host, just hours before CNN announced the departure of Don Lemon. While Fox News stated that the reasons behind Carlson's exit were "agreed to part ways,” Evgeny Popov, a Russian state TV host, alleged that Carlson's firing was connected to statements he made about last September’s explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines. During his show Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson suggested that the United States might be behind the blasts. Popov claimed that Carlson’s firing was “because of Russia,” and said that when the truth is spoken on air of the most popular political program in the country, someone will have to be held accountable. Meanwhile, there has been speculation that the blasts were a “deliberate act of sabotage,” but at the time, President Joe Biden did not accuse Russia of being behind it. Carlson's firing occurred soon after the company paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems, but it was the private messages sent by Mr. Carlson that had been redacted in previous legal filings showing him making highly offensive and crude remarks that were the catalyst for his departure.