Neil Cavuto Leaving Fox News After 28 Years: “I Got To Do What I Love To Do” – Update

UPDATED with Cavuto’s remarks on his final Fox broadcast: Veteran Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto is exiting after 28 years with the network.

Cavuto has hosted the afternoon program Your World on Fox News since the channel launched in 1996. He announced his departure at the end of his Thursday show, saying he’s “been planning this day for some time, this just seemed like a good time.” He also said he is “forever grateful to my bosses” as well as his producers, writers, cameramen and directors who supported him across his shows, but saved his “biggest thanks for last, for you, all of you, who have allowed me into your homes all of these years.”

“I got to do what I love to do, report the news,” Cavuto said.

You can read the entirety of his comments at the bottom of the post.

Cavuto also has also hosted Cavuto: Coast to Coast on Fox Business Network. He also hosts Cavuto Live, a two-hour weekend show that focuses on politics and business.

“Neil Cavuto’s illustrious career has been a master class in journalism and we’re extremely proud of his incredible 28-year run with Fox News Media,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement. “His programs have defined business news and set the standard for the entire industry. We wish him a heartfelt farewell and all the best on his next chapter.”

Cavuto’s contract is up at the end of the month and Fox had offered him a new deal and wanted him to stay, but he declined the offer, a source tells Deadline.

For now, Your World will be helmed by a rotating cast of anchors until a new show debuts. Coast to Coast on Fox Business will become Fox Business Live, anchored by rotating hosts, until new programming debuts. New programming will be announced in the new year on Fox News and Fox Business, a source tells Deadline.

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Before joining Fox, Cavuto was a principal anchor and reporter for CNBC, where he co-anchored the network’s initial broadcast on April 17, 1989. He also worked with PBS for 15 years reporting for Nightly Business Report and was a New York City bureau chief.

Cavuto has been outspoken over the years on various issues and faced criticism from some viewers, such as when he urged them to get the Covid-19 vaccine. He also has occasionally criticized President-elect Donald Trump, with Trump and some fans of Trump responding in kind, but his departure supposedly has nothing to do with the incoming President, we’re told.

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Cavuto’s final signoff Thursday on Your World:

“This is it. The final segment, but today I also wanted to let you know this is my final show. I’m leaving FOX. I’ve been planning this day for some time, this just seemed like a good time. Now, some of you might be thinking, ‘well, Neil, it is about time!’ After all, I’ve been doing this for nearly three decades here. You know, there are people working with me now, who weren’t even born when I started at FOX — that’s how old I am. But I’m not leaving journalism, I’m just leaving here. But I’m forever grateful to my bosses here. They have been very good to me these many years and offered a very generous opportunity for me to stay years more.

“That’s pretty amazing considering the fact that — I don’t know — I might have missed a day or two here and there battling everything for multiple sclerosis and COVID to countless infections, even open-heart surgery. Then there were all of those awful series of hang nails, don’t get me started on that one. I might’ve been unlucky in health, but very lucky for the support I got here and the things I got to do here because I got to do what I love to do, report the news. Not shout the news. Not blast the news. Not — well, call names, just call balls and strikes, following the news. To hold truth to power and fairness to all. That’s it, that’s me. But while you see me, you really don’t see the people behind me, the producers and writers and cameramen and directors across three shows all these years carrying me and that can be a pretty heavy lift, so blame them if I said something that ticked you off and apparently I did a lot. But now, I’m off and saving my biggest thanks for last, for you, all of you, who have allowed me into your homes all of these years.

“My dad used to tell me, ‘Neil, stay humble because in your case it will come in handy.’ I don’t think he would ever have imagined my incredible run, but I do think he’d remind me to thank those who made it possible, all of you. Okay, truth be told, most of you. I’m leaving out the nasty ones who called me fat, forgetting as I often said the camera adds 50 pounds until one dude saw me in person and said ‘you know, Neil, it wasn’t the camera!’ Or those who email that I knew things that I think that were anatomically impossible to do. I got a kick out of those. Actually, I got a kick out of them all. Let’s say you kept me grounded.

“My Irish mom used to say, ‘we should count our blessings and never forget who blessed us.’ In the end, that should be our focus and that is mine tonight. Not all the stuff that divides us or the nastiness that embitters us, but the far more important stuff that unites us and defines us and lifts us. I tried to appeal to those better angels and I’m grateful you gave me that chance. That is why I say goodbye with only good thoughts and good wishes. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season. May the new year be as fulfilling for you as these nearly 30 incredible years you blessed me. It means a lot, you do too. Thank you and good night.”

Cavuto’s exit from Fox News was first reported by Mediaite.