After years of criticism and months of campaigning by media activists, Lou Dobbs finally made his exit from CNN. On the November 11 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, the virulently anti-immigrant primetime host announced his abrupt departure from the network, well before his contract was up. Although CNN president Jonathan Klein described the split as “extremely amicable,” it capped months of intense pressure on the network to oust Dobbs; word later leaked out that he was paid an $8 million severance to leave early. Two coalitions had launched efforts to get the host removed because of his xenophobic rhetoric: Basta Dobbs, which targeted CNN, and Drop Dobbs, which aimed at advertisers. Celebrating Dobbs’s departure, Roberto Lovato of Basta Dobbs declared: “We are thrilled that Dobbs no longer has this legitimate platform from which to incite fear and hate.”¹