The announcement was underscored by Neil Cavuto, who anchors the broadcast immediately after Smith's and was visibly flustered by the announcement.
"Whoa," Cavuto said as he opened his show. "Like you, I'm a little stunned."
Despite the apparent surprise, one staffer told CNN that "it was clear [Smith] wasn't happy, on air and off air," at the network, and others told the outlet he wasn't forced out, but "wanted to leave."
Some pointed out that the exit came one day after Attorney General William Barr met privately with media mogul and Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch, but Smith insisted in his goodbye that it was his decision to leave and the Associated Press reports that Smith's representatives "cautioned against conflating the two events."
"I think it probably just got to be too much," another staffer told CNN as rumors swirled online.
The 55-year-old anchor said in his goodbye that he was not retiring, but agreed with the network that he would not be working elsewhere "at least in the near future."
Shep Smith announces that today was his last show and he's leaving Fox News pic.twitter.com/JF28ub1js6
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) October 11, 2019