Juan Williams announced last week he was leaving his co-host position on Fox News' program, "The Five." Williams cited being closer to family in Washington D.C. as the show was ready to begin recording at its studio at Fox News Media's headquarters in New York City.

However, family reasons might not be the only reason that Williams departed the show. According to The Daily Beast, "multiple sources familiar with the matter" revealed that the run-ins with colleague Greg Gutfeld were a reason for Williams' departure.

The report states that Gutfeld wanted "The Five" to return to the studio for its recording and felt that the only reason they were shooting remote was due to Williams, who had contracted COVID-19 last December. 

One network insider revealed to The Daily Beast that Gutfeld was "really pissed they're not all back in the studio together, and he blames Juan for not being back." 

An ex-Fox News producer stated they were "very confident" that Gutfeld was behind Williams' exit. Then there's a current staffer on the network who added, "[Gutfeld's] been wanting the show back in the studio for quite some time."

"It doesn't surprise me that much," another former Fox News staffer said. "Gutfeld has been a rising star at Fox for some time, and Juan has been known to get in some pretty heated debates. So with those two egos going at each other regularly, I could see it happening."

Despite these claims, a Fox News spokesperson debunked these rumors of Gutfeld having anything to do with Williams' departure. "Gutfeld had anything to do with the move whatsoever," the spokesperson said. Furthermore, they referred to the comments made by showrunner Megan Albano as the reason Williams left.