Geraldo Rivera Celebrates 80th Birthday Days After Sudden Fox News Departure: 'A Lot to Celebrate'

In an appearance on 'Fox and Friends' Friday, the longtime television personality discussed his time with the network — and his Fourth of July birthday

Geraldo Rivera celebrated his 80th birthday on Tuesday, just days after the surprise announcement that he was leaving Fox News after 23 years.

In an appearance on Fox and Friends Friday, the longtime television personality said he would be celebrating his birthday on the Fourth of July — a day that also coincides with other special events in his life.

Saying that many of his "dear friends" would be attending his July 4th birthday party, Rivera noted: "I got a lot to celebrate."

He added that his birthday came around the same time as his "20th wedding celebration with [wife] Erica," and his daughter Sol's 18th birthday, adding that the two were "almost empty nesters."

Rivera also opened up about his decision to leave the network, which he pinned on his recent exit from The Five (Rivera said in a video on Thursday that the dismissal was a firing, despite earlier suggesting that he left at his own will).

Related: Geraldo Rivera Leaves Fox News After 23 Years: 'I Got Fired from The Five So I Quit'

"I was fired from The Five and I said, ‘Well I might as well resign totally’ and I quit," he said on the show Friday. "Today’s my last day. I want to leave thinking about how wonderful everyone has been to me throughout the last 23 years."

As Rivera noted, he came to Fox after hosting a show on CNBC, during which he covered the Sept. 22, 2001, terrorist attacks. The attacks inspired him to look for a role as a war correspondent — a dream that then-Fox chairman Roger Ailes made a reality, he said.

"So anyway, I went to the war and ... it took me around the world," he said. "Life takes you strange places, but it established a relationship with Fox that people would not ordinarily think of as a natural relationship because of political ideologies and so forth. Me being more on the progressive side than many of my colleagues."

Rivera continued: "But it worked out. Everybody was open-minded, open-hearted, I was treated as a family member her and I hope it was reciprocated. … There’s a way to work as colleagues and there’s a way to work as family, and I really think we became family."

Related: Geraldo Rivera on 50 Years in TV, His Friendship with President Donald Trump and Biggest Regrets

In his final segment on the network, Rivera grew emotional as he said he had "such affection for the people in this building."

"I really, I feel very emotional and deeply moved," he added, after a montage of his work on Fox was shown to audiences. "I will always remember this morning. It is something that I didn’t expect, this celebration is beyond the beyond."

Rivera was also treated to an early birthday celebration during the send-off, with staffers serving two oversized cakes from the Cake Boss and Fox and Friends anchors donning mustaches, in an homage to his iconic facial hair.

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