Several news anchors will take over Shepard Smith's 3 p.m. Fox News slot, network president and executive editor Jay Wallace said in an interview with Variety published Monday.



Smith, 55, stunned the broadcast news world on Friday in announcing the decision to part ways with Fox, where he'd been since it launched 23 years ago.



“It was a tough day for a lot of people here,” said Wallace, a former producer for Smith. “The thing about this place, there is a camaraderie, an ‘us against the world’ mentality,” he added. “These are more like familial bonds as opposed to just passing, transactional relationships. That’s why it hit so hard with a lot of people.”



Smith addressed his departure at the end of his show on Friday.



“Together with my colleagues we’ve written a first draft of history and endeavored to deliver it to you, while speaking truth to power, without fear or favor with context and perspective," Smith said while speaking directly to viewers.



"This is my last newscast here. Thank you for watching today and over the decades," the 55-year-old anchor continued. "It’s been an honor and my pleasure. Even in our currently polarized nation, it’s my hope that the facts will win the day, that the truth will always matter, and that journalism and journalists will thrive."