Fox News boots Geraldo Rivera off The Five after number of disagreements

FOX News has booted longtime correspondent Geraldo Rivera from The Five following a number of on-air disagreements between him and co-hosts Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld.

Rivera, 79, who has been a staple of FOX News since 2001, announced his sudden ouster on Twitter Wednesday morning, writing: 'It's official, I'm off The Five. My last scheduled show appearances are Thursday and Friday June 29th and 30th.

'It's been a great run and I appreciate having had the opportunity,' he said. 'Being odd man out isn't always easy.'

Rivera will continue to serve as a Correspondent at Large, he said. 

He had been one of the rotating 'liberal' co-hosts on the panel show since January 2022, sharing his role with commentator Jessica Tarlov and former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford. 

The three would take turns sparring with their more conservative colleagues, including Judge Jeanine Pirro, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld.

But last month, Rivera claimed on Twitter that his scheduled appearances on the show had been canceled.

DailyMail.com has reached out to FOX News for comment. 

Geraldo Rivera announced Wednesday morning he has been booted from The Five

He tweeted that his last show appearance will be on June 30, but he remains a correspondent at large

In early May, Rivera tweeted: 'My appearances today and tomorrow on The Five have been canceled. I’m sure there’s a good reason. Never fear, I’ll be back week after next. Stay safe and happy. Thanks' with a praying emoji.

He had not appeared on the network since April 21, the same day it announced that longtime anchor Tucker Carlson had been axed. 

Rivera's tweet claiming his appearances were being canceled from the network came after he was at the receiving end of his co-host Greg Gutfeld's online mockery.

On April 26, days after the announcement of Carlson being abruptly let go from Fox News, Rivera tweeted: 'I don’t wish ill on anybody, but there is no doubt - as I said at the time - Tucker Carlson’s perverse January 6 conspiracy theory was "b******t."'

'Having lost the election President Trump incited an insurrection that sought to undermine our Constitutional process.'

Rivera had many times criticized the former Fox host's downplaying of the violent Capitol riots as 'nothing more than a political protest that got out of hand' as 'inflammatory and outrageous and uncorroborated.'

Gutfeld responded to his social media post, writing: 'You’re a class act Geraldo. A real man of the people.'

One Fox News insider speculated to The Daily Beast that Gutfeld may have played a role in Rivera’s alleged removal.

Other sources within the network claimed however that Rivera was never on the show’s calendar to begin with and that it was always supposed to just be Tarlov and Ford in the 'liberal' seat this week. 

Rivera did not respond to Gutfeld's remark until more than a week later on May 4, where he wrote: 'Thank you @GregGutfeld for your kind remarks.'

Rivera has not appeared on The Five since April 21, the same day as Carlson's last broadcast

He had gotten into an on-air shouting match with co-host Greg Gutfeld in April

Rivera shares the 'liberal' seat with with Jessica Tarlov and former congressman Harold Ford Jr

Rivera had previously sparred with Gutfeld on-air during a panel discussion on electric vehicles, when Rivera told his colleague to 'stop pointing at me.'

He then called Gutfeld an 'insulting punk' in an argument about abortion rights and repeatedly hit out at Israel amid violence in the Middle East in 2021.

The Emmy-award winning journalist, who hosted the daytime talk show Geraldo for over a decade and appeared on Celebrity Apprentice, was, however, a long-time supporter of Donald Trump's presidency - before denouncing him following the Capitol riots.

In December 2020 he said that he had supported Trump for four years while the president was ‘assailed by leftist creeps who conjured the Russian Hoax to wreck his presidency’.

Rivera got his start as a local journalist in New York in the early 1970s, but his expose revealing the horrific conditions at a Staten Island facility housing developmentally disabled children and adults made him a national name.

He also ran a special opening gangster Al Capone's vault in the basement of a Chicago hotel. 

The vault was empty, but the spectacle drew a huge audience.

From there, he went on to run his own syndicated show, Geraldo, for nearly 11 years and had a nightly talk program on CNBC from 1994 to 2001, when his then-friend Roger Ailes brought him over to FOX.

In 2021, Rivera signed a new multi-year deal at FOX to serve as a correspondent at large.

As part of that contract, he was slated to host a new show for FOX Nation streaming service, Cops: All Access, a recap and retrospective program for Cops.

'My two decades at FOX have been action-packed, covering everything from war to natural disasters, epidemics and urban unrest,' Rivera said in a statement at the time.

'Now as correspondent-at-large, I'm more focused on reporting and commentary for shows like FOX and Friends and The Five, and it's a blast.

'Through it all, I'm proud of my colleagues and deeply appreciate their professionalism and continuing support.'