FACT CHECK: Was Juan Williams Fired From ‘The Five’?

Conservative News DailyApril 20, 2021

A viral post shared on Facebook over 500 times claims political analyst Juan Williams has been fired from Fox News’ talk show “The Five.”

Verdict: False

There is no indication Williams has been fired from the “The Five.” Fox News’ website still lists him as a current co-host of the show.

Fact Check:

Williams started at Fox News Channel as a contributor in 1997, according to Fox Business. He has been a co-host of “The Five,” a show featuring Fox News personalities discussing current events, since the show aired in 2011, The New York Times reported.

Now, an April 14 Facebook post alleges Williams has been fired from the show. (RELATED: Did Fox News Report That ‘Joe Biden Has Been President For Nine Hours And 400,000 Americans Are Dead’?)

Contrary to this claim, Williams appeared on the April 19 episode of “The Five” after having been absent from the show the previous week. His biography on Fox News’ website still has him listed as a political analyst for the network and a co-host for “The Five.”

Williams also includes his position at Fox News in the bio section of both his Facebook and Twitter account. Check Your Fact searched the network’s press releases, as well as its social media posts, but found no announcement of Williams being fired.

When NPR terminated Williams’ contract in 2010 after comments he made on Fox News’ former show “The O’Reilly Factor,” including saying he got “nervous” when he saw people in “Muslim garb” boarding airplanes, media outlets such as Politico, The Chicago Tribune and CNN reported on it. Had Williams been recently fired from Fox News, it likely also would have made headlines, yet Check Your Fact found no media reporting to corroborate the claim.

In a 2010 opinion article published by Fox News after he was fired from NPR, Williams wrote that he had made the statement “to set up the case for not making rash judgments about people of any faith” and had been fired “for telling the truth.”