- Fox News Channel (FOX, FOXA) confirms that chief news anchor and managing editor Shepard Smith is stepping down, a move he announced minutes ago on his broadcast.
- Smith asked to be released from his contract and the network obliged, it says.
- He had been one of the network's original hires in 1996.
- He won't be reporting elsewhere "in the near future" according to an agreement with Fox News, he says.
- Smith has taken the brunt of recent sharp criticism from President Trump, who alleges that Smith (and separately, the network) isn't being fair to him.
- The move follows closely on a meeting last night between Attorney General William Barr and Fox's Rupert Murdoch.