Geraldo Rivera says he is exiting Fox News’ ‘The Five’

Longtime Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera will no longer be one of “The Five.”

Rivera announced Wednesday on his Twitter feed that his final appearance on the daily roundtable program, which has the largest audience in cable news, will be June 30.

“It’s been a great run and I appreciate having had the opportunity,” Rivera wrote. “Being odd man out isn’t always easy. For the time being, I’m still Correspondent at Large.”

Rivera has served as one of the rotating liberal hosts on the program, along with commentator Jessica Tarlov and former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, since Jan. 2022. They take turns sparring with the four conservative regulars: Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld.

Rivera appeared to have a strained relationship with Gutfeld and had suggested on Twitter that the co-host was the reason he was showing up less frequently on “The Five.” The two have had heated exchanges on the show, typically a breezy conversation about the day’s issues.

Tarlov has emerged as a star on the program. She is the most outspoken liberal on the network, unafraid to push back forcefully on her co-hosts.

Rivera, who turns 80 next month, had to travel to New York from his home in Ohio for his work on “The Five.”

Rivera’s departure is likely part of the cost-cutting moves that have been made across the network over the last month. A representative for Fox News did not return a request for comment.

In April, Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems. The voting-equipment maker claimed its business was damaged by the network’s coverage of former President Trump’s false claims about fraud in the 2020 election.

Rupert Murdoch’s network has been making trims since the settlement, canceling shows hosted by former MTV veejay Kennedy and commentator Steve Hilton (both remain as contributors).

Longtime correspondent Laura Ingle was recently cut as well. The network also failed to come to terms on a new contract with Dan Bongino, who had been a weekend host.

Rivera has been with Fox News since 2001, when he joined as a correspondent. He also hosted his own Saturday night program “Geraldo at Large.”

Rivera first emerged as a swashbuckling local news correspondent at WABC-TV in New York in the early 1970s. His exposé revealing horrific conditions in a Staten Island facility housing developmentally disabled children and adults, known as Willowbrook, catapulted him to a role at ABC News. The story ushered in major changes in the country’s approach to caring for people with mental disabilities.

Rivera also fronted one of the wildest debacles in TV history in 1986 when he did a live special in which he opened gangster Al Capone’s vault in the basement of a Chicago hotel. The vault was empty. But the event — considered an early experiment in reality TV — scored a huge audience and Rivera went on to host a syndicated show “Geraldo,” which ran for 11 years.

Rivera was friends with Fox News founding executive Roger Ailes, who gave the journalist a nightly talk program on CNBC that ran from 1994 to 2001. Ailes then brought Rivera to Fox News, which has been his TV home ever since.