Fox News chief news anchor Shepard Smith is leaving the conservative cable network after 23 years there, he announced Friday.

Smith's appearance Friday on "Shepard Smith Reporting" was his last appearance on the network, according to Fox News. Smith is not leaving to take another job in journalism, he said during his final broadcast.

In addition to working as chief news anchor, Smith had been managing editor of the network's breaking news unit. He had worked at Fox News since its launch.

At a network known for its often full-throated support of President Donald Trump, Smith stood out for his criticisms of the president and for his fact-checking of claims by Trump and his supporters.

"Is he leaving? Oh, that's a shame," Trump quipped to reporters on the heels of the announcement of Smith's exit.

Smith's departure follows a report that he was warned last month by Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and network president Jay Wallace not to criticize the network's evening anchor Tucker Carlson again.

Smith had said on the air that it was "repugnant" that Carlson had not spoken up in defense of Fox News contributor Andrew Napolitano after a Carlson guest, attorney Joseph di Genova, called Napolitano a "fool" for saying that Trump had broken the law. Di Genova is a legal advisor to Trump.

Fox News denied that Smith was warned about his criticism of Carlson.



"At no time did anyone - including anyone in management or a third party - speak to Shepard Smith regarding this matter," a Fox News spokesperson said. "Anything to the contrary is entirely false and wildly inaccurate."

Smith also has been criticized repeatedly by Trump — as recently as Thursday — after not lavishing praise on the president, as a number of other hosts on the network routinely do.

"Recently I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News and begin a new chapter," Smith said in a prepared statement.

"After requesting that I stay, they graciously obliged. The opportunities afforded this guy from small town Mississippi have been many," Smith said.