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Sean Spicer Joins the Newsmax Exodus

Former press secretary Sean Spicer is back on the market after his contract negotiations with Newsmax went south.
Former press secretary Sean Spicer is back on the market after his contract negotiations with Newsmax went south. Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
April 12, 2023

The newly nimble Sean Spicer is back on the market after his contract negotiations with Newsmax went south, bringing an end to his rarely-discussed political talk show Spicer & Co. Spicer touted “big projects in the works” ahead, of course, so I checked in with Trumpworld to see if Spicer would be two-stepping his way back into the inner circle. Surely Trump’s undersized team, which just added Jason Miller, could use more spokes/support or at least a high-name I.D. surrogate outside of MAGA ‘Evita’ Kim Guilfoyle. One Trump advisor described the chances of a Spicer reunion as “unlikely, but possible.” Until then, I hold my breath for the Spicer-Trump show part deux.

But Spicer may not be the only former Newsmax host potentially looking to explore, or return to, the Trump roost. A number of hosts, including Eric Bolling, have been arguing with Newsmax over contract terms, I hear. (Bolling declined to comment. Newsmax C.E.O. Chris Ruddy has yet to respond.) In some cases, the hosts are being asked to expand their digital duties or contribute to other shows or engage more with social media. There have been a slew of exits behind the scenes as well: Benny Johnson also decided to leave the network after not getting enough traction on the weekends, and on Friday alone, the network’s C.O.O. of broadcasting, Jon Lee; the vice president of booking, Stephanie Cassidy; and the head of engineering, Walter Raps, all quit.