Stephen LeDrew, co-host of Live at Noon on CP24 before he was fired this week by the network, says he was terminated for reasons he called “ridiculous” and “baloney.”

The political commentator said he was fired Monday following a week-long suspension after he went on the Fox News program Tucker Carlson Tonight. The appearance included a discussion that questioned an extended acronym for the queer community used in education inclusivity training.

LeDrew sparked heated criticism on social media for his remarks about those who identify as two-spirited — an Indigenous term for someone embodying both a masculine and feminine spirit — who he said were “clearly confused.”

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But LeDrew told the Star that it wasn’t the content of the debate that got him fired. He said it was the fact he appeared on Fox — and gave an interview about his suspension to the Toronto Sun — that irked CP24.

“They were very cheesed off,” LeDrew said.

Scott Henderson, a spokesperson for Bell Media — which owns CTV and CP24 — told the Star this week that LeDrew’s suspension was a “result of his violation of the CTV news policy and code of conduct.”

LeDrew’s discipline began on Nov. 30, when he said was called in by Joanne MacDonald, vice-president, CTV News, and general manager, CP24.

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“ ‘You were on Fox last night,’ ” LeDrew recounted her saying. “And I said ‘yes!’ And she said, ‘well, it’s contrary to your employment terms!’ And I said, ‘well, I’m not an employee.’

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“ ‘ Well, it’s contrary to CTV policy,’ ” she said, according to LeDrew. “And I said, ‘why? I’m not paid by them. I went on as a guest!’ ”

The crux of the issue, LeDrew said, was that CP24 felt that Fox was their competition. He told MacDonald that was “baloney.” That evening, he received a call from human resources to say he was suspended without pay.

“It was on-script, and it was a long script, so I didn’t pay much attention,” he said.

He added that he was made to sign a “gag order,” which acknowledged that he was never to write articles, go on any radio or any other TV shows.

After the suspension, the producers of Tucker Carlson Tonight called LeDrew.

“They liked my debate with Tucker,” LeDrew said. “And then I said, ‘well, it must have been pretty good. I got suspended!’ ”

After he was interviewed by the Toronto Sun about the suspension, LeDrew was then asked to meet with the president of CTV News on Monday morning. After some discussion, he said he received a letter of termination.

“You are fired from CP24 because, not exact language, but it was because I had appeared on Fox News and I gave interviews to Canadian media — to the Sun, there was only one — which put CP24 and CTV News and Bell Media in a poor light,” LeDrew told the Star.

“At no point during any of the discussion — there was only two letters — was my answer on two-spirited ever mentioned. It wasn’t my interview or the content or anything I said or did not say. It was simply because I appeared as a guest on Fox Network.”

He declined to provide the Star with either of the letters from Bell Media.

“I probably shouldn’t,” he said. “That will drive everyone over the wall.”