Okay, this is interesting. How else would you describe an on-air talent who gets yanked off air permanently? I think that would be classified as a termination, a firing. It doesn’t matter that she’s still getting paid; NFL coaches who get the axe still get paid, too. There’s some linguistic gymnastics at play here, but Maria Bartiromo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, is now pushing back against the claim that the longtime Fox Business host was fired:

For many years, Maria Bartiromo hosted three number one rated television shows on Fox channels. She has been, without question, one of the hardest working journalists throughout her award winning career. 

The irresponsible reports that have been published stating that Maria Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox are absolutely and unequivocally false. Make no mistake, we have the receipts and witnesses and they will come out whether through the courthouse or otherwise. Those reporting her firing or the incredulous facts supporting that fiction have exhibited a complete and utter reckless disregard for the truth

Again, when you’re taken off the air and told you’ll never see the airwaves again on Fox, what are we supposed to call that? 

Also, nice hook with the “we have the receipts " line. 

The initial story about her departure stemmed from Bartiromo's reported desire to cover China and the 2020 election. It no doubt involved election interference, which Trump confirmed via declassified documents at his July presser, though he did not say it tilted the election. Still, Fox News went through legal hell with the Dominion lawsuit following the 2020 race and nixed the story. Bartiromo supposedly took screenshots of her text messages with Fox executives and sent them to White House officials, who later called the network, essentially outing her as the source. The network viewed this as a fireable offense: leaking privileged internal communications. Reportedly, Bartiromo resigned in February, and the last Mornings with Maria episode aired on Thursday, announcing that she was no longer with the network. 

Side note: Freedman has an impressive media client list (via The Hollywood Reporter):

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Bartiromo has now retained attorney Bryan Freedman, who recently repped Justin Baldoni in his high-profile case against Blake Lively, as well as journalists Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo after their dramatic exits from CNN as well as Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox and Megyn Kelly’s exit from NBC. Bartiromo’s attorney denies that she was fired and further claims that she is “still employed by Fox.” Freedman suggests they may pursue the matter in court. 

[…]

It is not entirely clear what argument the attorney plans to make, though TV contracts are typically “pay to play,” meaning that talent is meant to get paid through the length of the deal, regardless of whether they are still used on-air. In previous high-profile exits, talent will negotiate a settlement with the channel, giving them less cash but allowing them to pursue opportunities elsewhere. In other cases, talent continue to take pay through the remainder of their deals.

Still, I don’t know what you would call Bartiromo’s current state other than termination, but we’ll see. 

You’re not fired, but you’ll never be working here again seems a bit silly, no?