Fox News recently reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems based on the company’s defamation lawsuit. The case was due to start trial, however the parties involved mutually agreed to a settlement. This was a win for the private equity-owned election technology company Dominion Voting Systems, which no longer had to deal with the long process of appeals if they had won at trial.
However, Fox News’s critics will not have the pleasure to see their biggest executives and stars such as Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, and Sean Hannity grilled in court. The lawsuit was filed in March 2021, in which Dominion Voting Systems said that Fox News hosts Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and Lou Dobbs broke libel laws when they invited conspiracy theorists Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell for interviews on the show. Dominion said that Fox News either supported or failed to dispute false claims from the two interviewees, who were working for then-President Donald Trump to contest his electoral loss in the 2020 election.
Court filing revealed texts and emails from Fox’s executives, hosts, and producers which depicted a newsroom which was far from impartial while attempting to please its supporters. Influencers such as Mike Lindell, the My Pillow CEO who advanced outlandish conspiracy theories were welcomed financially with open arms. Other late developments included the judge admonishing the law firm who was representing Fox News of withholding important information while approaching trial, as well as a former producer accusing the law firm of coaching her answers.
There was a possibility of a liability in the lawsuit due to some of the shareholders believing Fox News has violated their fiduciary duties with their broadcasts. The settlement of Fox News came with a warning for those who might have future defamation lawsuits against the news network. Previous records have shown Rupert Murdoch’s companies have paid a total of $750 million over the past 13 years in various legal settlements, including sexual harassment cases.
Dominion Voting Systems is a private equity-owned election technology company which specializes in the design, manufacture, and tech support for specialized election technology products. It first became an election technology provider in 2000 and currently provides products to more than 1,900 clients and election organizations across the globe. Their technology is used in over 30 countries and is praised for being an international leader in election technology.
Rudy Giuliani is an American politician and personal attorney to Donald Trump who has served in various posts including the mayor of his hometown New York City, US attorney and head of the White House Office of Management and budget under Reagan. He gained notoriety as Trump’s attorney during the 2020 US elections and was part of the team of lawyers who attempted to challenge Trump’s loss.
Sidney Powell is an American lawyer who represented former national security adviser Michael Flynn in an effort to withdraw his guilty plea of lying to the FBI. Powell had also become one of the main lawyers used to challenge Trump’s presidential losses, making numerous outrageous claims during public and legal proceedings.
