Fox News has finally cut ties with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for good.
The conservative cable news network decided not to renew the outspoken 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee’s contract on June 1, according to Politico. This is not the first time Fox has severed ties with Palin. After the tea party favorite openly complained about cuts in her airtime in 2012, she was dropped the following year, only to return to the fold five months later.
Although the split this time is reportedly “amicable,” the loss of an influential platform and national exposure is a blow to Palin, who last made headlines earlier this month with her full-throated attack on “Girls” actress Lena Dunham in the wake of the Duggar family abuse scandal. Palin attacked the press in a Facebook post for their coverage of reality TV star Josh Duggar‘s inappropriate past sexual behavior in comparison to their handling of revelations about Dunham’s childhood in her memoir “Not That Kind of Girl.”
RELATED: Sarah Palin calls Lena Dunham a ‘pedophile’ amid Duggar rant
“I’m not defending the Duggar boy’s obvious wrongdoing over a decade ago,” Palin wrote on Facebook. “The main victim in any story like this isn’t the perpetrator, it’s the innocent ones so harmfully affected. I’m not an apologist for any sexual predator, but I’m sickened that the media gives their chosen ones a pass for any behavior as long as they share their leftwing politics.”
Dunham had written about sexual acts she either attempted or engaged in with her younger sister when she was just 7 years old. Although Dunham has argued that her actions were just “a story about being a weird 7-year-old,” Palin claimed that Dunham was a “pedophile” who “haughtily enjoy rewards” of her “perversion.”
With her tenure at Fox coming to a close, Palin and her fans can take heart in the fact that she still has a huge following — 4.5 million fans on Facebook — and a reality show on the Sportsman Channel, called “Amazing America with Sarah Palin.”
That program, which recently wrapped up its second season, features Palin (billed as “the First Lady of the Outdoors”) touring the country to profile everyone “from risk-takers to legacy-makers, trailblazers to lifesavers.” It is co-hosted by infamous former Miss USA Tara Connor. She previously starred in a family-centered reality show on TLC, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” but it was canceled after just one season.
The 51-year-old still remains active in Republican Party politics. She remains a popular speaker on the stump, her super PAC continues to donate funds to candidates around the country and, according to Politico, SarahPAC recently produced a 30-minute documentary DVD detailing Palin’s impact on the last three election cycles. She also launched her own subscription-funded network, The Sarah Palin Channel, last summer. Her daughter, Bristol, also continues to make headlines, most recently with an abruptly canceled planned wedding to a U.S. Marine over Memorial Day weekend. “I guess you have seen by now that the wedding — that was supposed to happen last weekend — was called off,” Bristol wrote in a May 26 blog post. “I’m sure you’ve seen this has been all over the media, but this is a painful time for family and friends and I would just really appreciate your prayers.” Meanwhile, Sarah Palin appears to be undaunted by her departure from Fox. She posted a quote from her first 2008 campaign appearance on Facebook early on Wednesday: “I didn’t get into government to do the safe and easy things. A ship in harbor is safe but that’s not why the ship is built.” Palin is expected to continue making occasional appearances on Fox News and Fox Business, as well as other cable news networks.
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