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☆ Fox posts quarterly loss on Dominion settlement despite boost from Super Bowl, Tubi
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The News Corporation headquarters, which is also home to Fox News, stands in Manhattan on April 18, 2023 in New York City. Fox Corp. reported a quarterly net loss on Tuesday due to the costs related to its settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, despite revenue that was lifted by the Super Bowl and its fast ad-supported streaming service Tubi. Fox notched $4.08 billion in quarterly revenue, up 18% from the same period last year. The company also saw a boost after airing more NFL games during the season and from increased viewership for Tubi. Fox is the top-rated cable news channel, even as prime-time ratings in Carlson's slot have slid since his departure.

☆ Fox swings to a loss after its Dominion settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Fox Corp. posted a loss in the most recent quarter after it paid a $787.5 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems. The earnings statement didn’t mention Dominion Voting Systems, although it does refer to charges related to legal settlement costs at Fox News Media. Since its settlement with Dominion, Fox has fired its most popular anchor, Tucker Carlson. The Dominion settlement was reached on April 18. The better than expected earnings helped lift shares of Fox (FOX) rose in premarket trading following the report.

May 9 (Reuters) - Broadcaster Fox Corp (FOXA.O) beat estimates for third-quarter revenue and adjusted profit on Tuesday, as Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch affirmed the company’s prime-time programming strategy following its recent $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems and dismissal of star host Tucker Carlson. Dominion had sued Fox for $1.6 billion over its coverage of debunked vote-rigging claims about the voting technology firm. Total revenue rose 18% to $4.08 billion, inching past analysts' estimates of $4.03 billion, according to Refinitiv data. Fox's ad revenue also surged 43% to $1.88 billion, well past the expectation of $1.67 billion. The upbeat results from Fox underscore the cautious approach by advertisers who are mostly buying slots on dominant networks.

☆ Fox Producer Dismisses, for Now, Case Accusing Network of Coercion
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Katie Robertson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A former Fox News producer who has accused the network of coercing her into providing misleading testimony has dismissed one of her lawsuits against the company, at least for now. In a court filing on Friday in Delaware Superior Court, Abby Grossberg, who worked for the hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, said that she was voluntarily dismissing the complaint without prejudice, which means the case can be brought again. Ms. Grossberg had claimed in the lawsuit that she had been pressured and coached by Fox’s lawyers to protect the company and lie in her sworn deposition as part of the Dominion Voting Systems case against Fox. Fox settled with Dominion for $787.5 million in April, just before the trial was about to begin in the high-profile defamation case.

The decision to dismiss the lawsuit does not mean she has settled the case, her lawyer, Tanvir Rahman, said Monday. Prior to that, she was a producer for Fox host Maria Bartiromo's Sunday morning show. Grossberg also said Fox intimidated her and fraudulently induced her to make false statements in her September 2022 deposition in the Dominion lawsuit. On April 18 Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million to settle the voting-technology company's defamation lawsuit in Delaware. Grossberg could have been a key witness had the Dominion case gone to trial.

☆ Fox News calls on Dominion Voting to investigate the 'inexcusable' Tucker Carlson message leaks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fox News sent letters to Dominion Voting Systems asking they probe Tucker Carlson message leaks. Fox News' legal team sent letters to Dominion Voting Systems calling on the company to probe whether they leaked internal messages from Tucker Carlson. The letters to the electronic voting company came after multiple news outlets published controversial messages made by Carlson in private. "Leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism"A screenshot from the video of Tucker Carlson asking his makeup artist what women do in the bathroom. "Reporting on newsworthy leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism," Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said in a statement.

☆ A 'pay or play' clause in Tucker Carlson's contract with Fox News could keep him off the air through the 2024 election: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tucker Carlson was abruptly fired from Fox News on April 24 with little explanation. The popular conservative news host seeks to return on the air soon, The New York Times reported. However, Carlson's contract with Fox could restrict him from doing so until 2025, per NYT. Carlson was abruptly fired from Fox News on April 24 after the company's $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. One person with knowledge of Carlson's deal told the newspaper the former host's contract contains a "pay or play" clause that restricts network hosts from working with competitors for as long as they are under contract.

May 5 (Reuters) - Fox News on Friday asked lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems to investigate whether they leaked controversial internal messages from ousted Fox host Tucker Carlson that were provided in evidence for their recent defamation lawsuit. The requests, which were made in letters released by Fox, came after multiple news outlets published racist and sexist remarks by Carlson contained in leaked internal messages and recordings. Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) said those were given to Dominion as part of the lawsuit, which claimed Fox defamed Dominion by airing false election-rigging claims. Dominion denied the materials came from the company or any of its lawyers. Media outlets including the New York Times reported that the decision came after Fox's board saw Carlson's internal messages.

☆ Fox demands Media Matters stop publishing leaked Tucker Carlson videos
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Jon Passantino | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Fox sent a cease-and-desist letter on Friday to Media Matters, the progressive watchdog, and its president, demanding that it take down embarrassing behind-the-scenes videos of Tucker Carlson attacking Fox News’ streaming service and making crude remarks while joking with staff. “For Fox to argue otherwise is absurd and further dispels any pretense that they’re a news operation. Carlson referred to a Dominion lawyer as a “slimy little motherf**ker” and confessed to his producer “the hate” that he felt for him. It’s totally bad for you to feel that way,” Carlson said. “But that guy, he triggered the sh*t out of me.”The footage also showed Carlson trashing the right-wing network’s streaming service Fox Nation, expressing frustration that the platform “sucks” and complaining that its “unbelievable” shortcomings were a “betrayal” of his efforts.

☆ Fox says it settled Dominion lawsuit to ‘buy peace,’ as it tries to block release of more material in the case
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Fox said in a court filing Wednesday that it settled the monster defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million to “buy peace,” and strongly opposed motions to unseal additional redacted material in the case. “It would create profoundly perverse incentives the next time parties are encouraged to settle a high-profile trial,” Mowery added. Fox has redacted significant swaths of the material, which news outlets have objected to. Days after Fox settled the lawsuit with Dominion, the company fired its star prime time host, the right-wing extremist Tucker Carlson. “It was three against one, at least,” Carlson wrote in the hours after the Jan. 6 attack.

☆ Tucker Carlson texted 'It's not how white men fight,' New York Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jon Passantino | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —In a newly revealed text message, ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson made a racist comment and said he found himself briefly rooting for a mob of Trump supporters to kill a person, according to the New York Times. The text message alarmed Fox’s board of directors and played a role in Carlson’s abrupt firing last month, the paper reported. Tucker Carlson did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. At the end of his text, Carlson reportedly continued that he does not condone violence. “What’s not news is the fact that Tucker Carlson is a white nationalist,” Greenblatt tweeted.

☆ Leaked video shows Tucker Carlson jokingly quoting the infamous 'we'll do it live' outburst from Bill O'Reilly, his predecessor that was also pushed out of Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A leaked video shows Tucker Carlson laughing and shouting an infamous Bill O'Reilly quote. The clip of O'Reilly having an outburst in an "Inside Edition" outtake went viral in 2008. Leaked video shows former Fox News host Tucker Carlson quoting an infamous behind-the-scenes outburst by Bill O'Reilly, another former host for the network who held Carlson's old time slot and was also pushed out. The video, obtained by the left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters, shows Carlson on the set of "Tucker Carlson Today," his show that streamed online at Fox Nation. The phrase became well known in 2008 when an outtake from O'Reilly's time at "Inside Edition" in the early 1990s surfaced online and went viral.

☆ Tucker Carlson’s racist text message shouldn’t be surprising: Analysis
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Tucker Carlson sent a racist text message that “set off a panic at the highest levels of Fox” and ultimately led to his firing, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The toxic stream of hate that flowed each night from “Tucker Carlson Tonight” made the program anathema to advertisers, with blue chip companies boycotting the show. On Tuesday, after The Times reported on Carlson’s racist text message, ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt said, “What’s not news is the fact that Tucker Carlson is a white nationalist. Neff’s termination came after CNN reported that he had been secretly posting racist and sexist remarks in an online forum. A spokesperson for Fox declined to comment on the January 2021 text message.

☆ Tucker Carlson once described his desire to see a 'mob' of white men 'hurt' a kid — 'I could taste it,' disturbing text shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tucker Carlson once sent a text saying he wanted a group of white men to kill an "Antifa kid." Carlson texted a producer about the moment he felt blood lust seeing a "kid" being hurt. In the text — sent on January 7, 2021, one day after the Capitol riot — Carlson said that he found himself "rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they'd hit him harder, kill him." The text message was included — but redacted — as evidence in Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The Times obtained the redacted Carlson text message from several unnamed sources who were granted anonymity to share the message.

☆ Sen. JD Vance defends Tucker Carlson over leaked 'how white men fight' text: 'He says far more controversial things publicly every single day'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tucker Carlson bemoaned that a group of Trump supporters didn't fight like "white men," per a leaked text. "By the way, I don't think that's why he was fired," the Ohio senator added. "I don't know why that would justify somebody getting fired, especially when you're talking about a private text message." "I'm highly skeptical that text message caused them to fire Tucker Carlson. "Once a week, I worry that something terrible will happen to Tucker Carlson," said Vance.

☆ Trump Agrees to Return to CNN, Ending a Long Boycott
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Fox was the first network to do so. The move is also a way of drawing a sharp contrast with one of his expected opponents in the race, Gov. Lately, Mr. Trump has fumed about the release of private emails that show how Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox Corporation, expressed derision and contempt for him and his false claims of being cheated in the 2020 election. Mr. Trump lashed out at Mr. Murdoch and Fox for “aiding & abetting the DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA” on his social media platform, Truth Social. Mr. Trump also plans to skip at least one of the first two debates with his rivals for the 2024 Republican nomination, according to several people familiar with his plans.

☆ Times Asks Judge in Fox-Dominion Case to Rule on Redactions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Jeremy W. Peters | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The New York Times and a consortium of media organizations are asking a judge to rule whether Fox News improperly redacted portions of texts and email exchanges that were introduced as evidence in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the network. Dominion and Fox settled the case last month for $787.5 million, in what is believed to be the largest out-of-court payout in a defamation case. But left unaddressed was a legal challenge filed by The Times in January that sought to unseal some of what Fox and Dominion had marked as confidential in their legal filings. On Monday, a lawyer representing The Times wrote to Judge Eric M. Davis of Delaware Superior Court saying that the issue was not moot simply because the case had been settled. There is strong legal precedent, the letter said, affirming the public’s right to understand what unfolded in cases that are resolved before they go to trial.

☆ Biden attacks news outlets for 'lies of conspiracy and malice'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington, U.S., April 29, 2023. Speaking at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Biden referred to "truth buried by lies," in an apparent reference to false conspiracy theories that his 2020 election win was the result of a massive voter fraud. Lies of conspiracy and malice repeated over and over again designed to generate a cycle of anger and hate and even violence," Biden said. That cycle, Biden added, has emboldened local jurisdictions to ban books, and "the rule of law and our rights and freedoms to be stripped away." Biden said he and his administration were "here to send a message to the country and quite frankly to the world.

☆ The Week in Business: High-Profile Media Ousters
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Marie Solis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The move came less than a week after the company paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems. Soon after Mr. Carlson was fired, CNN announced that it had “parted ways” with Don Lemon, a longtime star on the network who most recently was a morning show co-host. First Republic’s troubles are part of a wider banking crisis that began with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in mid-March. (April 30-May 6)A Highly Anticipated Fed MeetingThese days, aren’t all meetings of the Federal Reserve highly anticipated? But the Fed signaled that much uncertainty lay ahead as it sought a narrowing path to a soft landing, made narrower by the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

☆ Fact Check-Video of woman asking Donald Trump to ‘save us’ predates Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video that shows a woman crying and asking former U.S. President Donald Trump to “save us” dates back to at least January 2021 and is unrelated to Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News. Posts online, however, are sharing it after the anchor parted ways with the television channel. Reuters reported on April 24, 2023 that Fox News and Carlson parted ways just days after Fox Corp settled a defamation lawsuit in which Carlson was central (here). Dominion Voting Systems said his show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, aired debunked election-fraud claims involving the electronic voting company while questioning these rumors in private messages. The video dates back to at least January 2021 and is unrelated to Tucker Carlson leaving Fox News.

☆ Fact Check-BlackRock owns shares in Dominion Energy, not Dominion Voting Systems
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock Inc owns shares in power and energy company Dominion Energy Inc and not electronic voting company Dominion Voting Systems, which are two separate companies. Another Facebook post reads, in part: “Blackrock owns 59.M shares of Dominion Blackrock owns 45.7M shares of Fox. While the figure matches the one on social media, the filing was for Dominion Energy Inc, not Dominion Voting Systems. “Dominion Energy and Dominion Voting Systems are not related,” Ryan Frazier, manager of executive communications at Dominion Energy, told Reuters via email, adding that BlackRock is a shareholder in Dominion Energy common stock. “Blackrock does not own any shares of Dominion Voting Systems,” Isabela Velasco, a spokesperson for Dominion Voting Systems, told Reuters via email, adding that Staple Street Capital has a controlling stake in the voting systems company (here).

☆ Tucker Carlson re-emerges, targets US media and political system
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Dan Whitcomb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Carlson in the videotaped statement did not directly address his departure from Fox, where he hosted the highest-rated cable news program in the key age demographic on the most-watched U.S. cable news network. Instead, he took aim at American media and the U.S. political system. "Both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it," Carlson said. Carlson and Fox parted ways less than a week after parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) settled for $787.5 million a defamation lawsuit in which Carlson played a starring role. Fox fired Grossberg, saying her legal claims were "riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees."

☆ Fact Check-Fabricated CNN headline on Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News shared online
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

(Advisory: Please note that this article contains sensitive content)An image purporting to show a headline published by CNN reporting that former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson committed suicide following his exit from the network is fabricated. CNN confirmed to Reuters that the article was fake. Carlson left Fox News on April 24, days after parent company Fox Corp settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million (here). In the fabricated posts, the CNN masthead can be viewed across the top of the screenshot, with a headline that reads: “Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson has died from suicide.” An example of the screenshot can be viewed (archive.is/wip/2cOrO). CNN did not publish this article about Tucker Carlson.

Several weeks ago, as Fox News lawyers prepared for a courtroom showdown with Dominion Voting Systems, they presented Tucker Carlson with what they thought was good news: They had persuaded the court to redact from a legal filing the time he called a senior Fox News executive the c-word, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Carlson, Fox News’s most-watched prime-time host, wasn’t impressed. He told his colleagues that he wanted the world to know what he had said about the executive in a private message, the people said. Mr. Carlson said comments he made about former President Donald Trump—“I hate him passionately”—that were in the court documents were said during a momentary spasm of anger, while his dislike of this executive was deep and enduring.

The day before Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation trial against Fox News was set to begin in a Delaware courthouse, the Fox board of directors and top executives made a startling discovery that helped lead to the breaking point between the network and Tucker Carlson, one of its top stars. Private messages sent by Mr. Carlson that had been redacted in legal filings showed him making highly offensive and crude remarks that went beyond the inflammatory, often racist comments of his prime-time show and anything disclosed in the lead-up to the trial. Despite the fact that Fox’s trial lawyers had these messages for months, the board and some senior executives were now learning about their details for the first time, setting off a crisis at the highest level of the company, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. The discovery added pressure on the Fox leadership as it sought to find a way to avoid a trial where Mr. Carlson — not to mention so many others at the network — would be questioned about the contents of the private messages they exchanged in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

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