No official reason has been given for why Fox News decided to take Tucker Carlson, its top-rated primetime host, off the air in late April, though a few unofficial theories have been floated over the past few months.

One of those theories was seemingly confirmed in a new book about Carlson that quoted the influential ousted host as claiming he was benched as a condition of the network's massive settlement with Dominion Voting Systems to end a defamation lawsuit, according to The Independent.

That claim from Carlson, which both Dominion and Fox News have denied as false, nonetheless appears to align with and support an anonymously-sourced report in mid-May that linked the removal of Carlson from the network's broadcast to a demand made by the voting machine company as part of the $787.5 million settlement agreement to avoid trial.

Carlson benched "as a condition of the Dominion settlement"

The Guardian first reported Wednesday that according to a new biography of Carlson that will soon be publicly released, the benched Fox News host -- he is reportedly still bound by a $20 million per year contract that expires in January 2025 -- asserted that he "knows" his being "canceled" is related to the Dominion lawsuit settlement.

"They agreed to take me off the air, my show off the air, as a condition of the Dominion settlement," Carlson told author Chadwick Moore in his new book, "Tucker," which goes on sale August 1. The Guardian obtained an advanced copy of the Carlson biography.

"They had to settle this," he said of the network due to the fact that owner Rupert Murdoch "couldn't testify." Carlson claimed, "I think that deal was made minutes before the trial started. I mean, I know it was."

As for the call he received from Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on the morning he was benched, he said, "I was first confused, and then shocked," as he initially thought it would be a congratulatory call about his high ratings and the six-year anniversary of hosting the important 8 pm ET primetime slot.

"It was just, ‘We’re taking you off the air.’ No explanation why, and they’ve let me guess ever since. That’s literally all I know. I asked if I violated my contract. They said, no, I’m not fired, I’m still under contract," Carlson added.

He further surmised that pressure from the Washington D.C. political establishment may have also played a role, given his often contrarian and at times controversial views on a range of topics, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, among other things.

"Dominion wanted to punish Fox" by ousting top-rated host

The Guardian noted that both Dominion and Fox News have steadfastly denied the claim that Carlson's ouster was related in any way to the defamation lawsuit settlement, which Moore dutifully included in the book.

Those denials are nothing new because, as mentioned above, the theory that Carlson was benched as a condition of the settlement is nothing new, and indeed was first floated in mid-May, according to a report from Variety at that time which cited "multiple" unnamed sources, even though Carlson wasn't named in the lawsuit and wasn't one of the network's hosts accused of defaming the voting machine company with purportedly false claims about election fraud.

"That condition was intended to hurt Fox, and Tucker is just collateral damage," one of the sources told the outlet. "Dominion wanted to punish Fox, and it’s working."

Dominion's denial

The Hill reported that in response to that Variety article, a spokesperson for Dominion said in a statement, "As the Fox principals who negotiated the settlement well know, Dominion made no demands about Tucker Carlson’s employment orally or in writing."

"Any claims otherwise are categorically false and a thinly veiled effort to further damage Dominion," the company added at that time. "Fox should take every effort to stop these lies immediately."