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Fox 2 commemorated the end of Charlie LeDuff's career at the station on Thursday night with a video (below) review of his career there. including his classic confrontations with then-Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano about the county budget.
LeDuff, one of the most colorful characters to ever work at the station, announced two days earlier on Facebook that he was calling it quits:
My last day with Fox TV and Fox 2 will be Thursday, Dec. 1.
It has been an insane experience: Detroit, Flint, The Border, Ferguson, Trump, you name it. I thank my bosses and colleagues for all they've given and taught me. Especially my partner and friend Matt Phillips who edits and films our work. A talented and courageous man.
But mostly I thank you people. I hope we've made things a little better for your children and shown you some of the complexities of our community and country.
I have no plan for what comes next. But considering the way things are in this world, I think it's time to step out and look.
I'll be staying here in Michigan, so I'll see you around. Stay tuned.
After playing the video, anchors Huel Perkins and Sherry Margolis both said how much they were going to miss LeDuff, who was not in the studio for the broadcast.
LeDuff had complained over time about the Fox News division and had threatened to quit in the past. This time he followed through.
People have been speculating as to what LeDuff might do now, including running for public office.
LeDuff told Deadline Detroit earlier in the week that he would not comment on his departure until after he was gone.
Bill McGraw wrote in 2012 in Deadline Detroit about LeDuff:
Charlie LeDuff says he is just a reporter, but since he returned to his hometown and joined Fox 2 in 2010 after two years at the Detroit News, he has crossed over into the realm of Detroit TV star. He has become a sort of 21st-Century Bill Bonds, a popular yet polarizing personality whose frenetic, news-breaking television shtick has become the source of admiration, debate and, at times, scorn.
