Tucker Carlson and his estranged ex-boss Rupert Murdoch very nearly collided Wednesday in the lobby of the Trade Hotel in Milwaukee, where they’ve both been staying during the Republican National Convention this week. Sources tell Hot Source that the potentially awkward reunion was averted by quick-thinking Murdoch aides, who formed a human wall around the Fox News baron just as Carlson was passing by, narrowly averting contact between the two.

Carlson, of course, was fired from Fox in April 2023, part of the fallout from the Dominion Voting System lawsuit, which cost the network $787 million in damages. Relations between Fox and the talk show host — who during his tenure at Fox lobbed such on-air whoppers as George Floyd died of a drug overdose — are said to be strained, to say the least.

Not completely surprising then that Carlson would be using the RNC as something of a revenge tour against the Murdochs, turning up unannounced at Fox’s studio inside the convention hall as a guest of Donald Trump Jr., much to the chagrin of network executives.

Relations between Trump Jr. and Fox News are also said to be somewhat strained, although there appears to be at least some mending. At a lunch at the Trade Hotel hosted by Murdoch, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace and attended by the network’s political analysts Brit Hume, Karl Rove, Kellyanne Conway and Charlie Hurt, Trump Jr. was waved over to the table for what sources say was a “pleasant exchange” with Scott. Earlier in the week, Trump Jr. had told Axios that he had been “banned” from Fox airwaves (“Donald Trump Jr. was on FOX News Channel yesterday with correspondent Aishah Hasnie,” a FOX News spokesperson said earlier in the week. “Prior to the Axios event, Fox & Friends asked him to appear on the show on Wednesday and he has since accepted that booking. He is and always has been welcome on all FOX News Media platforms.”)

Incidentally, Trump Jr.’s dad is apparently on good terms with Murdoch, announcing on the radio last week that he regularly speaks with the 93-year-old Aussie media mogul. “I speak with Rupert Murdoch a lot,” Trump said on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio show last week. “I think Rupert’s 94 or 95. He’s substantially older than Biden … he’s 100 percent sharp.” 

As for Carlson, he is technically still under contract with Fox — his deal runs through the end of the year — and while the network could keep him from other on-air appearances, it has chosen not to enforce the agreement. Carlson has been broadcasting on X (formerly Twitter), interviewing folks like Vladimir Putin, Alex Jones and Steve Bannon. Carlson’s relationship with the Trumps, particularly Donald Sr., has never been better; he delivered a major speech at the convention Thursday night. 

He recently told the Times that he has never discussed with the former president his widely disseminated remarks about Trump (“I hate him passionately,” Carlson had written in a text message that was revealed during the Dominion case).

“I got pissed at Trump,” he told the Times. “So? I get pissed at my wife. I’m a human being.”