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☆ Rupert Murdoch's divorce settlement with Jerry Hall banned her from sharing story ideas with 'Succession' writers, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch abruptly divorced his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, last summer. As part of the settlement, he banned Hall from giving story ideas to the "Succession" writing team, according to Vanity Fair. The HBO show was largely inspired by the Murdoch family and turmoil around electing a successor. The report comes amid ongoing turmoil within the Murdoch family in selecting a successor to News Corporation, the multi-billion dollar media company created and led by Murdoch, now 91. The Murdoch family largely served as inspiration for the HBO hit show "Succession."

☆ 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.

☆ Tucker Carlson raged against Trump in private. But in interview with the former president he took a very different tone
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Carlson made no effort to press the disgraced president on any of the issues that an actual news anchor would. Carlson’s refusal to disclose to his viewers his true opinions of Trump reflect the grip the former president still exerts over the Republican Party. Even Carlson, the most popular MAGA Media figure whom most of the GOP fears, thinks it is necessary to kiss the ring of Trump. Carlson, himself, confided in a producer after the 2020 election, “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. On Tuesday night, as Carlson bowed before Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he demonstrated exactly that.

☆ Rupert Murdoch reportedly spent a night on a gurney in a hospital parking lot after he broke his back falling on son Lachlan's yacht
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rupert Murdoch reportedly broke his back after he fell while aboard his son Lachlan's yacht in 2018. A new report from Vanity Fair detailed previously unreported health scares experienced by the 91-year-old media mogul. The yacht, which was sailing near Guadeloupe, reportedly docked at the nearest island to take Murdoch to the hospital, per Vanity Fair. Sources close to the family said he was in critical condition, and "kept almost dying," according to Vanity Fair. According to the report, Murdoch later tore an Achilles tendon after tripping over a box in March 2019, leaving him wheelchair-bound.

☆ Opinion: I’m betting on Cousin Greg. But I’m not a serious person
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Gene Seymour | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

By now, we should be used to HBO’s series pulling the rug out from beneath our expectations. Still, as more than one pundit observed of Logan’s death, this one shocked more than merely surprised. Not me, though I do miss Brian Cox already because few actors anywhere are as adroit at playing dyspeptic sociopaths. It would be at the very least ironic if “Greg the Egg,” the minion’s minion, stumbled into power as if he tripped on a sidewalk. I’ll say no more on this except to suggest that you all try to remember who in the end won that “Game of Thrones.” It’s not inevitable.

☆ Mick Jagger's security guy reportedly helped Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife disable security cameras suspected of beaming footage back to Fox HQ after divorce
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mick Jagger sent his security consultant to help his disable cameras in Rupert Murdoch's ex-wife's house, Vanity Fair reported. The footage from the home in Oxfordshire — which she got in the divorce settlement — was being sent to Murdoch's Fox headquarters, Vanity Fair reported. Hall, who married Murdoch in 2016, had previously been married to Jagger. Representatives for Murdoch, Hall, and Jagger did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment. Read the Vanity Fair's full report on Rupert Murdoch here.

☆ 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.

☆ This is what Rupert Murdoch reportedly said in email to ex-wife announcing he was divorcing her
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Grace Kay | Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rupert Murdoch broke off his marriage with Jerry Hall in an email, Vanity Fair reported. The Mail+ reported in last July that Hall was "heartbroken" after Murdoch informed her their marriage was over. Hall was waiting for Murdoch to join her in the UK for the summer when she received the email from Murdoch, per Vanity Fair. Both publications said that Hall told friends at the time that she was surprised by the news. The two were legally divorced about two months after Murdoch sent the email, Vanity Fair said.

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.

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."

☆ Sky News Australia quits TikTok citing security risks posed by Chinese-owned app
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —Australian broadcaster Sky News has left TikTok because of security concerns that have led several Western governments to ban the video app on devices used by officials. “We urge [media organizations] to consider this dilemma and stop trading security and integrity for a few worthless views,” he added. There is still no public evidence the Chinese government has actually spied on people through TikTok. Sky News Australia is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NWSA)oration, and is a separate entity to UK broadcaster Sky News, which is owned by Sky Group, a division of US conglomerate Comcast (CCZ). ByteDance said the relevant staff were investigating potential information leaks, and they were fired for misusing their authority to access TikTok user data.

☆ 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 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.

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.

☆ Logan Roy's fiery speech atop printer-paper boxes on 'Succession' evokes a real-life Rupert Murdoch moment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"Succession" patriarch Logan Roy rallied his fictional newsroom with a speech atop printer-paper boxes. In his speech, Murdoch told the reporters present that "We have to entertain, inform, enrich all our readers in their lives and in their businesses," according to Ellison's book. Representatives for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal did not respond to Insider's request for comment. "Then we all kind of stood around as people were literally dispatched to drag the printer boxes over to where Rupert planned to stand," she added. "The printer boxes, especially since we literally saw them dragged to their place, were key to the mood of menace and worry that day."

☆ Rupert Murdoch's engagement to former model and conservative radio host is called off just two weeks after he announced it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Rupert Murdoch is no longer engaged to former model and conservative radio host Ann Lesley Smith. Murdoch, who owns Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, has been married four times in the past. Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old media mogul whose portfolio includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post, is no longer engaged to Ann Lesley Smith. Murdoch and Smith, a 66-year-old former model and conservative radio talk show host, had announced their plans to wed just two weeks ago. I'm happy," Murdoch told the New York Post about their engagement last month.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

Niche cryptocurrency dogecoin spiked more than 30% on Monday after Twitter CEO Elon Musk replaced the blue bird on his company's website with an image of a shiba inu, the digital coin's logo. After the Twitter logo was altered to a shiba inu image, Musk shared a meme about the change to his 133.5 million followers on Twitter. But Musk's public endorsement of the coin goes further than social media messages. In January 2022, when Musk announced on Twitter that dogecoin payments were live, the cryptocurrency jumped as much as 15%. "We have not sold any of our dogecoin," Musk said on an earnings call last year.

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.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis denied motions from Fox and partially granted Dominion motions to resolve the issue of defamation liability in each side's favor - summary judgment - ahead of the scheduled April 17 trial date. A jury will determine whether Fox acted with actual malice and whether Dominion suffered any damages, according to the ruling. 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. 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. Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delawared; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bill BerkrotOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rupert Murdoch’s media machine offers full-throated defense of Trump after grand jury indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It came despite the relationship between Murdoch and Trump being on the rocks as of late. And yet, Murdoch allowed the incendiary pro-Trump rhetoric to grip his network on Thursday night. If there was any doubt that Fox News might not offer a full-throated defense of Trump today, given the disgraced Republican’s shaky relationship with Murdoch, that has been erased. Even if he’s not convicted, they figure the indictment and spectacle will help him become the Republican nominee. The outlet’s website prominently featured a story saying Bragg “has a bad case of bias,” among other Trump-friendly articles.

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