Sarah Palin Fox News Contract Ends, Suggesting Diminished Role In 2016 For Former Alaska Governor

Fox News has ended its contract with Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and running mate to 2008 presidential candidate John McCain, a Fox spokesperson confirmed to Politico Wednesday. Palin will continue to appear from time to time as a guest on Fox and Fox Business shows, but she will no longer be a commentator for the network.

The relationship ended amicably June 1, the Fox spokesperson said. One week after the reported termination date, Palin appeared on "The Sean Hannity Show" and weighed in on the controversy surrounding the reality-TV Duggar family, in the wake of an underage sex scandal involving one of the family members.

This is not the first time Fox has supposedly ended its relationship with Palin. In January 2013, a spokeswoman told the New York Times that the $1 million annual contract was over.

Palin’s Facebook page did not appear to contain references to this most recent termination, although it did promote her June 8 appearance with Sean Hannity.

The stalwart, if often mocked, conservative politician has contributed to Fox since 2008. “Palin is a contributor for Fox News, where she offers her political commentary and analysis across all Fox News platforms, including Fox Business Channel, foxnews.com and Fox News Radio. She also participates in special event political programming for Fox Broadcasting,” reads Palin’s biography on Fox News, where she is described as an “on-air personality.”

Reasons for the split were not immediately clear, but Politico suggested she was considered less relevant in the upcoming election cycle than she was subsequent to the 2008 presidential campaign, where she was the first woman to run on the presidential ticket for the Republican Party. She remains involved in the 2016 races, and she has a political action committee, SarahPAC, that has come under scrutiny in the past for irresponsible spending.

Palin is well known for her verbal gaffes, many of which have occurred during appearances on Fox programs. On Fox News Sunday in June 2011, Palin defended her claim that Paul Revere warned the British, saying, “I know my American history.”