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☆ Fox News apologizes to judge for ‘misunderstanding’ over Rupert Murdoch’s role that sparked investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN —Fox News formally apologized to the judge in the Dominion defamation case, taking responsibility for the “misunderstanding” regarding Rupert Murdoch’s role at the network that led the judge to launch an investigation into potential legal misconduct by Fox, according to a letter obtained by CNN. We apologize and never intended to avoid responding to a question from the Court.”The legal spat revolves around Murdoch’s roles at Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation. In past court filings, and when asked directly by the judge, Fox lawyers have repeatedly said he didn’t have an official title at Fox News. But last week, Fox disclosed that he is also an executive officer at Fox News. At hearings this past week in Wilmington, Delaware, Fox attorneys said they never withheld any material from Dominion.

Fox has argued that Dominion cherry-picked evidence to mischaracterize the network's coverage decisions, which it said were reasonable because election-rigging claims by the president's lawyers were inherently newsworthy. Fox has said it also gave Dominion's side of the story by airing its denials. The Fox Corp chairman is set to take the witness stand, along with other executives including Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott. The trial is also due to include testimony from a parade of conservative-leaning Fox hosts including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro. Fox has attacked the credibility of Dominion's damages estimate, saying it is based upon unrealistic growth projections and faulty assumptions.

☆ Fox News, Dominion Prepare for Battle in $1.6 Billion Defamation Trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Erin Mulvaney | Isabella Simonetti | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fox News has sought to position its actions and election coverage as within the mainstream. Fox News is set to find itself Monday in a place it has spent two years trying to avoid: a Delaware courtroom where a jury is expected decide a once in a generation defamation case that could have broad ramifications for the network and test the contours of modern media law. The news network, a unit of Fox Corp., is accused by voting-machine company Dominion Voting Systems of airing false claims by hosts and guests that Dominion helped rig the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in favor of Joe Biden.

☆ What Dominion's lawsuit could mean for Fox and its cable TV networks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesDominion Voting System's defamation lawsuit against Fox Corp . and its cable TV networks will go to trial in the coming days, but the jury is still out on what, exactly, the lawsuit means for Fox and its business. Dominion brought its lawsuit against Fox and its TV networks, Fox News and Fox Business, in March 2021, arguing their hosts pushed false claims that Dominion's voting machines were rigged in the 2020 presidential election that saw Joe Biden triumph over Donald Trump. Worsen [Fox Corp. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Fox Corp.'s stock has remained stable in recent months as evidence implicating its TV hosts and executives have come to light in Dominion's defamation lawsuit. Oftentimes, companies will pull their ads when TV networks are embroiled in controversy.

Fox has argued in legal filings that Dominion’s $1.6 billion damages request is “untethered from reality” and designed to enrich the company’s investors. In Delaware, attorneys are not allowed to speak directly with potential jurors. The streamlined process allows for jury selection to happen more quickly than it does in some other states: Davis has allotted two days. But it also means both sides will have a harder time trying to identify prospective jurors’ political views, which could be relevant in this case, said Gomez. “Will the facts of the case actually matter to them if they have that underlying belief?”The questions are limited to prospective jurors’ experience rather than their attitudes.

☆ Abby Grossberg, ex-Fox News producer, escalates lawsuit against network, adds CEO Suzanne Scott as defendant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

In explosive lawsuits filed last month, Abby Grossberg claimed Fox lawyers bullied her into protecting the network and its on-air personalities in her deposition for the Dominion Voting Systems’ case. Grossberg now accuses Scott of being complicit in the alleged coercion, according to her amended lawsuit. The network fired Grossberg after she initiated the litigation. The topic of potentially missing or withheld evidence is looming large over the Dominion case. Dominion has said that it plans to call Grossberg as a witness as part of its case against Fox News.

[1/2] Donald Trump (R) speaks to media mogul Rupert Murdoch as they walk out of Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland, June 25, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo AllegriApril 11 (Reuters) - A Fox Corp (FOXA.O) shareholder sued Chairman Rupert Murdoch and four other board members on Tuesday, saying they failed to stop Fox News from reporting falsehoods about the 2020 U.S. presidential election that damaged its credibility and prompted lawsuits. The lawsuit seeks damages for the company from Rupert Murdoch, his son and Fox Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch, and fellow directors Chase Carey, Roland Hernandez and Jacques Nasser. Fox has argued that election-rigging claims by Trump and his lawyers were inherently newsworthy and protected by legal doctrines concerning press freedom. The shareholder lawsuit cited filings in the Dominion lawsuit, which said Murdoch had acknowledged under questioning from Dominion lawyers that some Fox hosts had "endorsed" the idea that the election was stolen.

☆ Fox News will be investigated for withholding evidence in the Dominion lawsuit, could face sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The judge overseeing the Fox-Dominion defamation case sanctioned the network for withholding evidence. This happened the day after a disclosure that Fox lawyers withheld information about Rupert Murdoch's role at the media company. (AP) — The judge presiding over a defamation case against Fox News said Wednesday he likely will order an independent review to determine whether the network improperly withheld evidence, a step that could lead to sanctions. That came after the disclosure a day earlier that Fox lawyers had withheld critical information about the role company founder Rupert Murdoch, who is chairman of Fox. Dominion alleges that Fox damaged the company by repeatedly airing false allegations that its machines and the software they used rigged the 2020 presidential election to prevent Trump's re-election.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis issued the sanction after Dominion's lawyers revealed instances in which Fox's attorneys did not turn over evidence in a timely manner, the Times reported. Fox said in a statement that it "produced the supplemental information" to Dominion "when we first learned it." Dominion sued Fox News and parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) in 2021. Grossberg said in her latest filing that she has tapes of former Trump lawyers, including Giuliani, conceding they lacked evidence for their claims. As a Fox News officer, Murdoch would likely have been subject to more probing discovery by Dominion.

☆ Dominion judge likely to appoint special master to investigate if Fox withheld evidence
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

This is very serious,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Wednesday at a pretrial hearing in Wilmington. The special master will look into what sanctions might be appropriate against Fox, including potentially instructing jurors in the case that Fox inappropriately blocked Dominion from obtaining key evidence. The judge ordered Fox to preserve “any and all communications” related to the Murdoch issue. Fox denies wrongdoing and says it properly disclosed Murdoch’s roles in its public financial filings. Fox attorney Dan Webb said Wednesday that “nobody intentionally withheld information” from Dominion.

On Monday, Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) head to trial over Fox's coverage of false election-rigging claims. Fox News had disclaimed that Murdoch was a company officer, which shaped how Dominion litigated the case, according to Nelson. As a Fox News officer, Murdoch would likely have been subject to more probing discovery by Dominion. A Fox lawyer told the hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, that Murdoch disclosed the title in a February deposition and he called the title "honorific." Superior Court Judge Eric Davis called the delayed disclosure "bizarre" and chided Fox attorneys for having made representations that Murdoch wasn't an officer of Fox News, only to reverse on the eve of trial.

Dominion asserts that Fox's top brass approved of the coverage, but the network says the evidence of high-level involvement is threadbare. The jury pool will be drawn from New Castle County, Delaware, where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two-to-one, according to the state's Department of Elections. The network says scattered doubts about the claims among certain individuals cannot be attributed to the organization as a whole. "I think (Fox is) trying to argue that the employees themselves did not have that necessary mental state," said UNC's Papandrea. "But it's tricky when the organization itself has relevant information that would cast doubt on the veracity of the statements about Dominion."

☆ Fox News settles with Venezuelan businessman in election defamation lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - Fox News said on Sunday it has reached a settlement with a Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, ending a defamation case in which Khalil said he was falsely accused on air of helping to rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election against Donald Trump. We have no further comment," Fox News said in a statement on Sunday. Lawyers for Fox News and Dobbs referred Reuters to the statement. Jury selection is set to begin on Thursday ahead of a separate trial in Dominion Voting Systems Corp's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) over their coverage of debunked election-rigging claims. Reporting by Michael Martina and Jack Queen; Editing by Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fox News settles lawsuit with Venezuelan businessman it accused of helping rig the 2020 US presidential election, as it readies for $1.6 billion Dominion trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit filed by Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil. Khalil was accused on air of rigging the 2020 presidential election by then Fox host Lou Dobbs. The former Fox host also accused Khalil and other Venezuelans of being involved in a scheme to oust former president Donald Trump. Khalil filed a $250 million lawsuit against Dobbs, Fox News, and former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell in December 2021. Dominion's mammoth $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox Corp, which it filed after Fox accused the company of using its voting machines to aid Joe Biden's victory, has garnered the most attention.

☆ Rupert Murdoch is worth $8 billion despite getting divorced 4 times. Here's how the media mogul spends his money.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The 92-year-old who has three children from his marriage to Anna Murdoch — James, Elisabeth and Lachlan — has a fortune worth $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on April 8. Tom Stoddart/Getty ImagesThe media mogul is the chair of News Corp. and Fox Corp., which are both listed in New York. The former has newspaper subsidiaries including The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, The Times of London, and The Sun, as well as titles in Australia. Fox Corp. includes Fox News, America's most popular cable-news network, and the Fox TV stations.

☆ Judge in Fox News Defamation Trial Says He Would Require Rupert Murdoch to Testify
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Erin Mulvaney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Delaware judge said Wednesday that Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch can’t avoid testifying in person in a looming defamation trial about false election-fraud claims that aired on Fox News. Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said during a pretrial hearing that if plaintiff Dominion Voting Systems issues a trial subpoena for Mr. Murdoch to testify, he “would not quash it.” The same goes for Fox Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch , Fox chief legal and policy officer Viet Dinh and former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan , who sits on the Fox board, Judge Davis said.

☆ Dominion can force Murdochs to testify at Fox News defamation trial, judge says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington, DC CNN —Dominion Voting Systems can force Fox Corporation executives Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to testify on the witness stand at this month’s scheduled defamation trial, a Delaware judge said Wednesday. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said at a hearing that if Dominion subpoenas the Murdochs to testify in person, he would not quash those subpoenas, and the Murdochs would need to show up. “They are relevant to the case… if Dominion wants to bring them live, they need to issue a trial subpoena, and I would not quash it,” Davis said. He added that “it would be my discretion that they come” to testify in-person at the trial, which is scheduled to begin later this month in Wilmington, Delaware. Fox News denies wrongdoing and says the case is a meritless assault against the First Amendment.

Companies Fox Corp FollowRupert Murdoch FollowWILMINGTON, Del, April 5 (Reuters) - Fox Corp (FOXA.O) executives Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch can be called to testify at this month's defamation trial over a $1.6 billion lawsuit claiming the media company lied about voter fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, a judge said on Wednesday. Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old chair of Fox Corp, and his son, Lachlan Murdoch, its CEO, were not on the list of witnesses that Fox intends to make available for the trial, in a case brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Davis said Fox board member Paul Ryan, a former Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, could also be issued a trial subpoena. The judge said there was an objection by Fox to Rupert Murdoch's testimony which would probably have to be resolved at trial. The trial already features a parade of Fox's biggest on-air personalities, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo.

☆ Dominion urges judge to compel Murdochs to testify live in Fox trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Dominion Voting Systems urged a Delaware judge to compel Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, and his son, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, to appear live in court during the upcoming trial over its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox and its networks. In a letter to Judge Eric Davis on Wednesday, Dominion urged the judge to compel both Murdochs to appear live. In earlier court papers Dominion did not included the Murdochs on its list for live testimony, although it had been earlier discussed in court. Fox had opposed Murdoch, as well as the other Fox Corp. executives, giving their testimony live in court. They had also pointed to the elder Murdoch's age, 92, as a reason for why he couldn't appear live in court.

☆ Rupert Murdoch and Ann Lesley Smith call off engagement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Rupert Murdoch at the U.S. Open in New York, September 2017. REUTERS/Mike SegarApril 4 (Reuters) - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and former San Francisco police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith have called off their engagement, a source confirmed on Tuesday. Murdoch and Smith, 66, met in September at his vineyard Moraga in Bel Air, California, and he called her two weeks later, Murdoch told News Corp-owned New York Post, which broke the news of the engagement. On March 17 in New York, Murdoch presented Smith with an Asscher-cut diamond solitaire ring, according to the Post. I’m happy,” Murdoch told the Post at the time.

☆ Fox News says Carlson, Hannity, Bartiromo set to testify at defamation trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Fox personality Tucker Carlson speaks at the 2017 Business Insider Ignition: Future of Media conference in New York, U.S., November 30, 2017. Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old chair of Fox's parent Fox Corp (FOXA.O), is not on Fox's witness list. The Denver-based company has said emails, texts and depositions show that Fox aired false election claims to boost profit and keep viewers from defecting to the right-wing outlets Newsmax and OAN, which also embraced Trump's claims. "The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that (it) is CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true," he wrote. Fox faces a similar lawsuit by another voting technology company, Smartmatic, which is seeking $2.7 billion in damages.

☆ Rupert Murdoch’s engagement with Ann Lesley Smith is called off
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —The media wedding of the summer is no more. Billionaire right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Ann Lesley Smith have called off their engagement just weeks after announcing they would be tying the knot, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. On March 20, Cindy Adams, who writes a gossip column for Murdoch’s New York Post tabloid, reported the two had become engaged. “I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last,” Murdoch told Adams at the time. Murdoch is the chairman of Fox Corp. and executive chairman of News Corp.It’s unclear what happened between Murdoch and Smith since the engagement was announced.

☆ UFC merger beefs up WWE's leverage in media rights negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Networks and streaming services need to get ready for a media rights smackdown. UFC should also benefit ahead of 2025, when its U.S. media rights deals come up, including with Disney's ESPN. "I think everything is up for grabs with these media rights deals. During his time with CAA, he had formed a relationship with McMahon during a recent round of TV rights negotiations for WWE. It will also work for UFC negotiations, he noted.

☆ Jury to decide if Fox liable for defaming Dominion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Reuters Editorial | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PoliticsJury to decide if Fox liable for defaming DominionPostedA jury will decide whether Fox Corp defamed Dominion Voting Systems with false vote-rigging claims aired by Fox News after the 2020 U.S. election, a Delaware judge ruled on Friday, dealing a setback to the media company that had sought to avoid a trial in the $1.6 billion lawsuit. This report was produced by Jillian Kitchener.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis denied motions from Fox and partially granted Dominion motions to resolve the issue of defamation liability ahead of the scheduled April 17 trial date. The ruling puts the high-profile case in the hands of a jury that will determine whether Fox acted with actual malice and whether Dominion suffered any damages. The judge ruled in Dominion's favor on some elements of defamation including that the allegedly defamatory statements by Fox concerned Dominion, that the statements had been published by Fox and were false. Davis, however, said in his ruling the doctrine would not shield Fox from liability, because the network did not conduct disinterested reporting. Fox faces a similar lawsuit by voting-technology company Smartmatic, which is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox Corp, the cable network, Fox hosts and guests.

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