Shepard "Shep" Smith announced he's leaving Fox News on Friday, a move that has stunned his colleagues and viewers. Smith, who had been at Fox News since its inception — and who had become one of the few voices on the network to disagree with Fox’s pro-Donald Trump commentators — had been serving the network's chief news anchor, managing editor of the network's breaking news unit and anchor of Shepard Smith Reporting.
"Recently I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News and begin a new chapter," Smith said in a statement on Friday afternoon. "After requesting that I stay, they graciously obliged. The opportunities afforded this guy from small town Mississippi have been many. It’s been an honor and a privilege to report the news each day to our loyal audience in context and with perspective, without fear or favor. I’ve worked with the most talented, dedicated and focused professionals I know and I’m proud to have anchored their work each day — I will deeply miss them."