If you searched “Why is Rick leaving Fox News,” you’re probably thinking of one of two people — and their stories are pretty different. Before you go down the wrong rabbit hole, let’s clear that up right away.
This article covers both Ricks, but spends most of its time on the one most people are actually asking about: Rick Leventhal, the longtime Fox News senior correspondent who left the network in June 2021 after 24 years. We’ll also briefly touch on Rick Reichmuth, Fox’s chief meteorologist, so you know which is which.
There Are Two Ricks — Here’s Which One You’re Probably Thinking Of
The two Ricks have very different roles at Fox News, and their departures happened for completely different reasons.
Rick Leventhal was a senior correspondent — a hard-news, field-reporting role. He joined Fox News in June 1997 and left at the end of June 2021. His exit got a lot of attention, partly because he’s married to Kelly Dodd, who was known from Bravo’s Real Housewives of Orange County. That connection brought his story into entertainment coverage, which is probably how many people heard about it.
Rick Reichmuth is a different person entirely. He’s Fox News’s chief meteorologist, and Fox & Friends officially said goodbye to him after 19 years on the show. His situation was not a controversy — it was more of a role transition tied to his own brand, Weatherman. There’s no drama there worth unpacking.
If you’re here because of something related to Kelly Dodd or Real Housewives, you’re in the right place. The rest of this article is about Leventhal.
Who Is Rick Leventhal and What Did He Do at Fox News?
Rick Leventhal joined Fox News in June 1997 as a senior correspondent. That title matters — it’s not a studio anchor role. Senior correspondents are the people you see reporting live from war zones, hurricane paths, crime scenes, and breaking news events across the country and around the world.
Over his 24 years at the network, Leventhal covered wars, major natural disasters, and significant national stories. The job was built around being where the news was happening, often on short notice, and often far from home. That’s just the nature of the role.
Outside of Fox News, Leventhal became more publicly known after he married Kelly Dodd in 2020. Dodd was a cast member on Real Housewives of Orange County, and their relationship was covered by entertainment outlets alongside the usual news trade press. When he eventually left Fox, both worlds took notice.
The Real Reason Rick Leventhal Left Fox News
Here’s the short version: Leventhal relocated to Los Angeles to be with his wife after they married, and the demands of his Fox News role no longer fit the life he wanted to live.
According to a source cited by Page Six, Leventhal no longer wanted to report on breaking news and preferred to stay California-based rather than travel constantly. The problem was that his senior correspondent position was specifically designed around frequent travel and on-location field reporting. Staying put in LA while holding that role — and that salary level — didn’t line up with what the job actually required.
Think of it like a sales consultant who wants to go fully remote in a role that’s built around regular client visits and travel. At some point, the person and the job stop fitting each other. That’s essentially what happened here.
Page Six reported that a source said Leventhal wanted to remain in California “while still commanding his high salary,” which didn’t match his job description. That’s a pretty clear tension for any employer to navigate — and Fox News is no different.
His last day at the network was June 28, 2021. The departure was framed publicly as him leaving the network, not as any kind of dramatic firing.
Was Rick Leventhal Fired or Did He Choose to Leave?
This is the question that spread across social media and Bravo fan forums after the news broke. And it’s a fair one to ask.
The public record from Fox News and trade outlets like The Hill and The Wrap supports one relatively clean answer: his contract expired and was not renewed. Leventhal and Kelly Dodd addressed the exit in an Instagram reel, and commenters on that post noted that his contract had simply run its course.
There were reports that Kelly Dodd mentioned they were seeking legal advice and planned to release a statement. That detail fueled a lot of speculation online. But as of now, no confirmed legal action or formal firing has been publicly documented. The noise around it was louder than the actual facts.
It’s worth understanding how cable news contracts typically work. Veteran on-air talent are usually on multi-year deals. When a contract ends, a network can renew it, renegotiate it, or simply let it lapse. Letting a contract expire is a clean way for both sides to part ways without a public confrontation. So when you hear “his contract ended” and “he left the network,” those two things can both be true at the same time — and neither one means there was a dramatic firing behind the scenes.
The bottom line: do not assume he was fired. The evidence doesn’t support that, and responsible reporting treats “contract not renewed” and “fired” as two different things.
Did His Marriage to Kelly Dodd Play a Role?
Yes — in the sense that his relocation to California to be with Kelly Dodd after their 2020 marriage appears to be the central factor that set everything else in motion.
It’s worth noting that the timing of his exit overlapped with Kelly Dodd’s own departure from Real Housewives of Orange County. Some entertainment coverage leaned into the “now they’re both off their shows” angle, which made the story feel bigger than it might have otherwise. But the core driver of Leventhal’s exit was his desire to stop the constant travel that came with his correspondent role — not any behind-the-scenes tension or conflict at Fox.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say Kelly Dodd “caused” his exit. What’s fair to say is that his marriage and the life change that came with it — including the move to Los Angeles — shifted what he wanted from his career. That’s a relatable human decision, even if it happened at a high-profile level.
The Bigger Picture: How the Business of Cable News Works Here
Leventhal’s situation is actually a useful window into how cable news manages its talent behind the scenes.
Senior correspondents are expensive. They travel constantly, they have long track records, and they’ve built real value for the network. But when a correspondent’s priorities shift — less travel, different location, a change in what they’re willing to do — it creates a real business problem. The network has to decide whether to restructure the role or move on when the contract comes up.
For anyone interested in understanding how media companies handle these transitions, resources like Wise Business Guide break down how businesses manage talent, contracts, and organizational change in ways that are easy to follow.
In Leventhal’s case, Fox News didn’t publicly announce a firing or a falling out. They confirmed his exit at the end of June 2021, the same way networks often handle these moments — quietly and without drama. That’s standard practice, not a cover-up.
What Is Rick Leventhal Doing Now?
He didn’t walk away from media altogether. As of 2024, Leventhal hosts “The Leventhal Report” on Newsmax2, which shows that he stayed in conservative-leaning cable news — just in a format that better suits his current lifestyle.
He and Kelly Dodd have also created online content together, including a YouTube series called “Rick & Kelly,” where the two have spoken openly about their lives after their respective TV exits. One video even addressed the Fox departure directly.
So this wasn’t a case of someone disappearing from public life. It was a career shift — one that came with a lifestyle change and a new chapter.
A Quick Note on Rick Reichmuth
If you were actually thinking of the Fox News weatherman, that’s Rick Reichmuth. Fox & Friends announced his departure from the show after 19 years as chief meteorologist. His exit was tied to his own brand, Weatherman, and was not a controversy. There’s no drama comparable to the Leventhal story. The two situations are completely separate.
Putting It All Together
Rick Leventhal left Fox News in June 2021 after 24 years as a senior correspondent. The most supported explanation is that he relocated to Los Angeles following his marriage to Kelly Dodd, no longer wanted to travel constantly for breaking news, and that created a mismatch with his role at Fox. His contract expired and was not renewed. He was not publicly confirmed to have been fired.
It’s a story about work-life tradeoffs as much as it is about cable news politics. And honestly, it’s a pretty human one — someone at a certain stage of life deciding that constant travel and breaking news no longer fit who they want to be. The fact that it happened at Fox News just made it more visible than most.
He’s still working in media, still on camera, and by all appearances, living the quieter California life he was looking for.
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