CNN was so tired of Lou Dobbs’ anti-immigration rants, the left-leaning but still officially “neutral” network forked over $8million to get the veteran newsman out of their hair, according to The New York Post. The host joined CNN two years into its creation and was one of the last surviving anchor before he abruptly announced he’d be leaving the network in 2010.

Sources told the publication that Dobbs had been feuding with CNN boss Jonathan Klein, who felt Dobbs’ increasing conservatism was hurting the networks’ ability to position itself between liberal news channel MSNBC and conservative FOX.

On his final show, Dobbs announced he was leaving CNN to “pursue new opportunities…beyond [his] role here at CNN.” He will be replaced by John King, a veteran White House correspondent who also hosts the CNN program State of the Union.