Alex's Asteroid Astrology

On Monday, 24 April 2023, the cable news universe was rocked by the sudden and unexpected announcement that Fox News had parted ways with Tucker Carlson, who had been anchoring the coveted 8 PM weeknight spot for six years with his eponymous “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, the network’s top-rated news/opinion show.  The split came barely a week after a record $787.5 million settlement in the defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems, in which Carlson was a scheduled witness, one among several Fox News anchors who promoted the “Big Lie” that Donald Trump had won the 2020 election, but had it stolen from him by rigged Dominion machines.  Carlson’s embrace of the stolen election fraud was legendary, as was his attempt to paint the January 6^th insurrection as a peaceful protest or conspiracy from the left.

Fox has been mute on the issue of why Carlson was terminated, but leaked emails and texts from the discovery phase of the Dominion case reveal his disdain for Donald Trump (whom he unfailingly supported on-air), Rupert Murdoch (head of the News Corp media giant which owns Fox, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, among others), Suzanne Scott (Fox News CEO) and other Fox co-workers, management or contributors.  Speculation is rife that Carlson offended all the wrong people, made the network look bad, and had to go.  As well, Carlson is being sued by Abby Grossberg, his show’s former producer, alleging a hostile and misogynist working environment for women.  With former Fox head Roger Ailes and lead personality Bill O’Reilly (replaced by Carlson six years ago) both brought down by sexual harassment issues, the network may have felt that the third time was not the charm, and exited Tucker strategically.

Regardless of the motive, the timing couldn’t be more apt.  Oddly, Carlson was fired six years to the day after his primetime show premiered!  Therefore, the Solar Eclipse of April 20^th at 29 Aries conjoined the 4 Taurus Suns of both events, as well as Tucker Carlson’s natal Saturn, ruling career, at 2 Taurus (born 10:07 AM PDT 16 May 1969, San Francisco CA, Rodden Rating AA).

The Sun closely squares asteroid Karlsson 9623 (for Carlson) at 3 Leo, putting Tucker in the spotlight for the timeframe, for good or ill.  There’s a hefty T-Square with Pluto at 0 Aquarius, a point which often leads to devastating outcomes.  Ancillary info about the competing reasons behind his termination can be seen in PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) which feed into this pattern – was it the revelations about his true feelings regarding the Big Lie and those who promulgated it, as witnessed by asteroid Lie 26955 at 11 Taurus conjunct the Sun; or was it the Abby Grossberg suit, as witnessed by asteroid Grossman 4565 (closest to Grossberg) at 4 Taurus, exactly squared the Sun?  The placements seem to suggest that the former may have been the underlying cause of discontent with his performance, but the latter is the last straw that broke the camel’s back, making his departure inevitable.

If mystery surrounds why Carlson was fired, there is also some uncertainty about who made the actual decision to cut him loose.  Was it Murdoch Sr, his son and co-chair of News Corp Lachlan, or Fox CEO Suzanne Scott (who Carlson reportedly called a “c*nt” in text messages)?  Again, the celestial evidence is conflicting.  With asteroid Murdoch 9138 at 28 Cancer opposed Pluto and in an out-of-Sign square to the Sun, it’s likely one of this father-son team was instrumental, but which?  A retrograde Mercury at 15 Taurus, exactly squared asteroid Rupprecht 13932 at 15 Leo (German for “Rupert”) signals that it was the old man (Rupert/Rupprecht) who rethought (retro Mercury) the situation and made the final decision (Mercury). 

But Suzanne Scott is in the thick of it, too, with asteroid Susanna 542 at 25 Aries widely conjunct the Sun and squared Pluto.  As asteroid Scott 876 at 13 Pisces conjoins asteroid Tucker 10914 at 10 Pisces, I’m guessing she may have been the one to actually deliver the bad news (or glad tidings, depending on your perspective).  Tucker also conjoins Saturn at 4 Pisces, ruling career, but a point which can signal loss as well.  Broadly conjunct is Damocles 5335 at 2 Pisces, that threat of doom hanging unseen overhead, which certainly seems to have been the case here, with no advance warning given.

Asteroid Fox 16248 at 19 Cancer conjoins Mars at 15, so there’s some animosity going on there, made personal by conjunction with Carlson’s natal Ascendant at 24 Cancer.  These points also bracket Carlson’s natal asteroid Nemesis 128 at 17 Cancer, which relates to ruin or downfall, often self-created.

Further evidence of Nemesis’ hand in events can be seen in its transit placement; at 19 Taurus, it conjoins that retro Mercury at 15 and also Uranus at 18 Taurus, underscoring the sudden, unexpected (Uranus) decision (Mercury) to bring Carlson’s Fox News career to an end (Nemesis).  As well, when “Tucker Carlson Tonight” took over the 8 PM timeslot on 24 April 2017, Nemesis was at 0 Aquarius, exactly where transit Pluto made its most recent station retrograde, on April 23, just one day before the show went belly-up.

“Born” with the 4 Taurus Sun opposed asteroid Fox at 9 Scorpio, the show’s natal Nemesis was on the fulcrum of a solar T-Square, and the seeds of Tucker’s fall were planted in a stunning combination of asteroids Karlsson and Tucker at 23 and 24 Aquarius, with Damocles at 26 – it was just a matter of time before the prophesied doom descended.  This triple conjunction is tightly squared by asteroid NOT 2857 at 26 Scorpio, a general disqualifier or signature of being roadblocked and stymied.  Carlson’s natal Sun at 25 Taurus feeds directly into this pattern to create a T-Square, while natal asteroid Rupprecht at 28 Taurus shows, not only the centrality (Sun) of Rupert Murdoch in Tucker Carlson’s lifepath, but potentially reinforces the sense that it was his vote that tipped the scales in favor of oblivion (NOT).

Carlson began his career in print journalism, then shifted to the small screen in 2001 when he was appointed one of the conservative co-hosts of CNN’s “Crossfire”.  Brief stints at PBS and even MSNBC followed, but it was his time at Fox News Channel, beginning in 2009, that became so central to his public image, as displayed by an exact square from natal asteroid Fox at 24 Libra to his 24 Cancer Ascendant.  Note that the recent solar Eclipse at 29 Aries also opposed natal Fox and squared his Ascendant, bringing their symbiotic relationship to a close.

While we’re on the topic of that Ascendant, we should mention that it exactly conjoins the US natal Mercury, and brings out the opposition to Pluto at 27 Capricorn which says so much about media (Mercury) manipulation (Pluto) of the public.  With his Ascendant directly involved, Tucker is the perfect poster boy for this energy, with his show promoting all sorts of conspiracy theories, from election denial and great replacement theory to COVID vaccine paranoia.  With his 25 Taurus Sun opposed Neptune at 27 Scorpio, making a T-Square with the US Moon at 27 Aquarius, Carlson was a natural-born fomenter of fabulist rhetoric, fraudulent theories and “alternative facts,” all of which he promoted to his four million viewers nightly.  With asteroid Lie at 15 Scorpio squared asteroid Karma 3811, it was inevitable that his falsehoods (Lie) would catch up to him at some point, and he’d pay the price (Karma).

But was that the reason for his firing?  Reportedly Rupert Murdoch was increasingly bothered by Carlson’s defense of the 1/6 rioters, the election denial, and his somewhat Messianic view of himself, but the News Corp CEO was content to let matters ride until the Dominion suit cost Fox nearly a billion dollars, with similar suits looming, and the Abby Grossberg case, targeting Carlson specifically, as the icing on the cake.  Recent reporting suggests it was actually those texts and emails revealed by the discovery for the Dominion trial, couched in crude and offensive terms, which booted Carlson into the street.  Redacted portions, unavailable to the public but seen by Fox executives on the weekend before the settlement, revealed even more belligerent language, and may have sealed Carlson’s fate.

The underlying importance of the Dominion Voting Systems case to Carlson’s bio generally is underscored by asteroid Dominiona 24899 at 10 Libra, given angular prominence by close conjunction to the 9 Libra IC, and also exactly sesquiquadrate the 25 Taurus Sun.  As well, Dominiona opposed natal Chiron at 5 Libra, symbol of the incurable wound.

For confirmation of the effect created by Carlson’s utterances we can look to two minor bodies, asteroid Toro 1685 and centaur Nessus 7066.  Toro relates to bulling and intimidation, crude, brutish behaviors, and toxic masculinity.  Nessus is the signature of “men behaving badly,” especially in a sexual context, and comprises everything from unwanted off-color jokes to full-on rape.  With natal Toro at 28 Pisces, broadly conjoined the 9 Aries MC and trine the 24 Cancer Ascendant, Carlson’s tendencies toward aggressive and crude language were on prominent display, if not publicly, at least among his associates.  And with natal Nessus at 12 Gemini conjoined Mercury at 11, he couldn’t resist expressing the potty mouth that goes with this combination.

The show’s chart feeds into Carlson’s natural propensities, exacerbating them to fever pitch.  Nessus and Toro conjoined at 7 and 14 Pisces brings together the worst aspects of Carlson’s personality; with Nessus squared Mars at 2 Gemini, his nascent misogyny was fully unleashed, but again, a T-Square with Nessus’ opposition to a stationary, embedded Karma at 2 Virgo (turning direct 18 April 2017) says there will be a comeuppance one day.

As well, this dynamic dysfunctional duo forms a Grand Trine with asteroids Fox at 9 Scorpio and Lie at 12 Cancer, indicating the network’s (Fox) facilitation (trine) of his worst traits (Toro, Nessus), coupled with deceit and fabrications (Lie).  Lie opposed a stationary asteroid Achilles 588 at 7 Capricorn (turning retrograde 20 April 2017) creates a Kite pattern, anchored with Achilles at the String, representing an inherent weakness or vulnerability (his “Achilles heel”) which threatens to destroy the show.  Pushing Carlson further into misogynistic attitudes and beratement or bullying of female staffers was the show’s Venus, which at 28 Pisces exactly conjoined his natal Toro.

At his termination, transit Toro at 26 Sagittarius is embedded at station (turning retrograde April 21^st), exactly squared Neptune at 26 Pisces, suggesting it was a combination of the crude, vile rhetoric (Toro) and the addiction to fantastical theories with no resemblance to reality (both Neptune) which prompted that result.  Incidentally, asteroid Abbe 5224 at 15 Sagittarius, for ex-producer Abby Grossberg’s toxic work environment suit, is also at station, turning retrograde April 15^th, perhaps supplying that shove out the door.

The firing’s Nessus at 17 Pisces conjoins asteroid Tucker at 10 Pisces, personalizing the misogyny to Carlson, with asteroid Susanna between them at 13 Pisces.  It seems the “c*unt” got her revenge.  Note that this cluster falls at the fulcrum of a T-Square with that stationary Abbe and a pairing of Venus with Achilles at 15 and 20 Gemini – more evidence that Tucker Carlson’s true Achilles heel was his treatment of and attitudes toward women.

Whatever the reason, Tucker Carlson’s departure from his primetime post vastly reduces his ability to influence the body politic of the US for the worse.  To which I heartily say, “good riddance!”