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☆ Fox News fires producer who filed explosive lawsuits against the network
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Fox News producer who accused the right-wing network of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion defamation case has been fired, she disclosed in new court filings. Lawyers for Abby Grossberg, a former producer for Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson who is suing Fox News over the alleged legal coercion, said that she was fired by the network on Friday. Last week, Grossberg filed explosive lawsuits in New York and Delaware accusing Fox News lawyers of coercing her into providing misleading testimony in the Dominion case – testimony that would protect the network and its top talent. She gave a deposition in the case, and her testimony has been cited by Dominion in some of its court filings. “We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination,” the spokesperson said.

☆ Dominion’s Weak Case Against Fox
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( William P. Barr | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Blinded by resentment at Fox’s success as an alternative media voice, many media organizations offered a distorted narrative—largely parroting Dominion’s spin—that the disclosures doom Fox’s legal defense. Commentators from the New York Times , Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and other outlets, gleeful at the prospect of a Fox setback, cheer on as the defamation case heads toward a trial date. But the real significance of the disclosures is exactly the opposite of what these media outlets claim. Two things are clear: First, if the applicable law is faithfully applied, the facts completely upend Dominion’s defamation claim against Fox. The case should be decided in Fox’s favor, if not at the trial stage, then on appeal.

“And yet, Mr. Carlson persists with his assault on the truth.”The letter from Teter demanded a formal retraction and on-air apology “for the lies” that have been spread about Epps on the channel. On many occasions, Carlson has specifically mentioned Epps on his show, and has played footage from January 6 of Epps at the Capitol. Each time Mr. Carlson and Fox News spreads more misinformation about Mr. Epps, the harm redoubles.”Spokespeople for Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has publicly pushed for professional accountability against lawyers who have spread election lies. The lawsuit from Dominion has unearthed damning messages from Fox News executives and hosts that have shown the network peddled election lies to its audience that it knew were false.

☆ Fox News producer files explosive lawsuits against the network, alleging she was coerced into providing misleading Dominion testimony
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —A Fox News producer on Monday filed a pair of explosive lawsuits against the right-wing talk channel, alleging that the network’s lawyers coerced her into providing misleading testimony in Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation case against the company. The lawsuits from Grossberg, who has since been placed on administrative leave by Fox, were filed in Delaware Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. “It’s another example of Fox News not only shying away from the truth, but attempting to bury the truth,” Filippatos told CNN. Grossberg named Carlson and members of his staff in the lawsuit filed in New York. “I’ve covered many stories while I have been there,” Grossberg told CNN.

☆ Fox bosses ‘shut down’ fact checking with 2020 conspiracies, Dominion lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Dominion is suing Fox News over the right-wing channel’s airing of false claims of election fraud around the 2020 presidential election. Fox News argued that Dominion should instead rely on the “lengthy depositions” that these witnesses already gave. It claims Dominion hasn’t shown anything strong enough to overcome the high bar that the First Amendment provides, protecting good-faith journalists from speech-chilling defamation lawsuits. Dominion lawyer Rodney Smolla said its high-stakes defamation case against Fox News will protect the public discourse and hold accountable people who deliberately lied about the 2020 election. “They endorsed,” Murdoch said, referring to Fox hosts Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and former host Lou Dobbs.

☆ Benefits of US political accord accrue to TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - TikTok has one incentive to keep American politicians united. As Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew goes in front of Congress this week, he might remember that benefits can accrue to him if representatives remain cooperative. TikTok will be working to persuade American politicians that citizens’ data is protected, but in reality it will be difficult for the country to ban the app outright. So in some ways, political cohesion is good for TikTok. TikTok may not want to cause trouble in Washington, but it benefits so long as Democrats and Republicans agree.

The voting technology company made the eye-popping damages claim as part of its 2021 lawsuit, which alleges Fox destroyed its reputation by airing falsehoods. A Dominion spokesperson said in a statement that the evidence will show Dominion was a "valuable, rapidly growing business" when Fox began "endorsing baseless lies" about its machines. "Following Fox’s defamatory statements, Dominion’s business suffered enormously, and its claim for compensatory damages is based on industry-standard valuation metrics and conservative methodologies," the statement read. Four different pre-election valuations of Dominion in 2020 averaged $226 million, Fox said, citing exhibits that have not been made public. If the jury concluded that Fox defamed Dominion but decided Dominion's business losses were minimal, it could still hit the company with significant punitive damages.

☆ Fox Considered Acquiring Rights to ‘The Apprentice’ After 2020 Election, Court Documents Show
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Joe Flint | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Donald Trump appeared with his daughter Ivanka Trump in the Season 6 finale of NBC’s ‘The Apprentice.’Soon after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Fox Corp. explored acquiring rights to “The Apprentice,” the competition show that Donald Trump hosted on NBC before he became president, according to court filings from Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit against Fox News and Fox Corp.Rupert Murdoch , Fox’s chair, and his son Lachlan Murdoch , the company’s executive chair and chief executive, discussed acquiring the show in November 2020, according to court documents released this week.

☆ Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch dismisses $1.6 billion defamation case revelations as ‘noise’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch on Thursday dismissed the revelations from Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News as “noise,” throwing his support behind the right-wing talk channel in his first comments since the case enveloped the company in major scandal. Among the thousands of pages of documents released in the case include repeated statements from Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch rejecting conspiracy theories about Dominion. However, Dominion said its position is that “confidential treatment of these materials is not warranted” based on case law standards. Filings in the case reviewed by CNN have included numerous redactions passages, including when Fox executives and personalities are quoted. The significant redactions have raised eyebrows about what Fox News is trying to prevent from being made public.

March 7 (Reuters) - Fox Corp (FOXA.O) Chairman Rupert Murdoch questioned whether hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham “went too far” in their coverage of voter fraud claims, according to an email contained in a trove of new exhibits in Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against Fox that became public Tuesday. The exhibits unsealed Tuesday contain evidence underlying the parties’ dueling motions for summary judgment, in which they seek pretrial rulings in their favor. The new documents also include more context of testimony and messages that Fox claimed Dominion had “cherry-picked” and “misrepresented” in its filing. Dominion has alleged Fox continued to push the stolen election narrative because it was losing viewers to right-wing outlets that embraced it. Fox argued in court filings that its coverage of claims by Trump's lawyers were inherently newsworthy and protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

☆ Tucker Carlson ‘passionately’ hates Trump, and eight more key revelations about Fox News from new Dominion filings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The filings expose the face of the network, Tucker Carlson, as a fraud. They show that Rupert Murdoch rejected conspiracy theories about Dominion, despite allowing them to be promoted on his network. But here are some immediate takeaways:► Carlson “passionately” hates Trump: In a number of private text messages, Carlson was harshly critical of Trump. I truly can’t wait.” Carlson added of Trump, “I hate him passionately.” The Fox host said of the Trump presidency, “That’s the last four years. There isn’t really an upside to Trump.”► Murdoch rejected conspiracies: In his January deposition, Murdoch was repeatedly asked about various electronic voting conspiracy theories — and he rejected all of them.

☆ Fox News and Dominion spar in new legal filings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Most legal experts expect that the case will ultimately proceed to trial before a jury in mid-April. Dominion asked the judge to decide the case in their favor because, in their view, Fox has already conceded that its on-air statements about Dominion rigging the 2020 election were false. “Fox has produced no evidence — none, zero — supporting those lies,” Dominion said. Discovery into Fox has proven that from the top of the organization to the bottom, Fox always knew the absurdity of the Dominion ‘stolen election’ story.”“Fox seeks a First Amendment license to knowingly spread lies,” Dominion added, rejecting Fox’s argument that the election-rigging allegations were “newsworthy” and thus protected under the First Amendment. The company continued, “if Fox cared about the truth that it now acknowledges, Fox would have its top personalities reporting that truth to its audience.

The hundreds of pages of new documents include previously unreleased excerpts from key depositions, including Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, and are part of Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The transcript was part of a trove of text messages, emails, and other material from Fox News executives and on-air personalities that were made public Tuesday as part of Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the right-wing channel. “Do you believe that Dominion was engaged in a massive and coordinated effort to steal the 2020 presidential election?” Murdoch was asked by Dominion lawyers. The hundreds of pages of new documents that came out Tuesday include previously unreleased excerpts from key depositions, including Murdoch, and are part of Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Fox News has not only vigorously denied the claims, it has insisted it is “proud” of its 2020 election coverage.

☆ Fox executives should be fired for ‘proven misconduct’ exposed in Dominion lawsuit, renowned Yale professor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —The Fox Corporation board has a huge mess on its hands — and it needs to work quickly to clean it up. That’s according to Jeffrey A Sonnenfeld, the renowned professor and senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management. The former House speaker said that Fox News should “move on from Donald Trump” and “stop spouting election lies.”But Sonnenfeld said Ryan’s actions were not enough. In fact, he said Ryan’s “quiet dissent” was “cowardly, ineffective, and immoral,” and pointed out that board members have certain responsibilities under corporate governance law in Delaware, where Fox is incorporated. Fox News has previously said it was “proud” of its 2020 election coverage, which is a statement that only grows more remarkable by the day.

☆ Fox faces an ‘existential threat’ from its multi-billion-dollar defamation cases
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch said under oath that he made a business decision when allowing a conspiracy theorist to promote election lies on Fox News. The network faces two separate defamation lawsuits from voting technology companies that collectively seek $4.3 billion in damages. Cases against FoxDominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News and Fox Corporation for $1.6 billion, accusing the network of spreading false claims that its technology enabled election fraud. A separate, similar case brought by voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion in damages. It also illustrated instances of Fox actively pushing back on fact-checks that undermined the election lies being peddled by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Fox Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch acknowledged under oath that some Fox hosts "endorsed" the notion that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen, according to a court filing unsealed Monday. Documents in the case in Delaware state court show Murdoch and other Fox executives believed Joe Biden fairly beat Donald Trump and that the results were not in doubt. Asked by a Dominion lawyer if some of Fox’s commentators had endorsed the idea that the 2020 election was stolen, Murdoch responded, “Yes. Dominion claims in its filing that Murdoch closely monitored Fox coverage but declined to wield his powerful editorial influence despite strong concerns about Fox's coverage. Murdoch testified that he believed early on that "everything was on the up-and-up" with the election, and that he doubted claims of election fraud from the very beginning.

☆ Fox scores Super Bowl ratings touchdown with 113 million viewers, the third most-watched TV program ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The Super Bowl delivered super ratings for Fox. That makes Super Bowl LVII the third most-watched television program of all-time. Fox Sports said that the Apple Music Halftime Show featuring Rihanna drew an average of 118.7 million viewers, making it the second most-watched performance in Super Bowl history. The numbers underscore yet again that while linear television might be in decline, live sports still command extraordinary audiences. Fox said Super Bowl LVII was the most-streamed Super Bowl in history, with an average of 7 million people watching via internet-based services.

A former Fox News employee sued the network Wednesday, alleging that the late Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes sexually abused her for years. Ailes allegedly made it clear that if she tried to speak out or stop the abuse, Luhn would experience “severe personal humiliation and career ruin,” according to the suit. Luhn says in the suit that in 2011 she sent a letter to Fox’s general counsel detailing Ailes’ abuse. The suit says the network withheld over 30% of the payment for taxes. The sexual abuse that she suffered while working at Fox News was some of the worst imaginable,” said Luhn’s attorney, Barbara Whiten Balliette, a partner at Reid Collins & Tsai LLP.

☆ News outlets ask judge to unseal documents in Dominion’s defamation case against Fox News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The New York Times and NPR asked a judge on Wednesday to unseal a trove of documents in Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing channel Fox News. “This lawsuit is unquestionably a consequential defamation case that tests the scope of the First Amendment,” the pair of news organizations said in the filing. Spokespersons for Dominion and Fox News did not immediately provide a comment on the outlets’ request to the judge. “That is especially important in a case that touches upon political issues that have deeply divided the country.”As the lawsuit has progressed in the judicial system, a deluge of legal documents have been withheld from public view. The case is expected to go to trial later this year unless a settlement is reached.

☆ Lisa Rinna is leaving ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Samantha Kubota | Liz Calvario | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Longtime “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Lisa Rinna announced on Jan. 5 that she is leaving the show, Bravo confirmed to TODAY.com. The 59-year-old reality star is “excited” for the next chapter in her career, after being on the reality show for eight seasons. “RHOBH” star Denise Richards also called out Rinna after the Season 12 reunion, writing on Instagram, “I watched #RHOBH last night. While I have empathy for Lisa Rinna losing her mom, what is her excuse all the other years on the show for being so cruel & so vindictive?”Rinna’s mother, Lois Rinna, died in November 2021 at age 93. And I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve made it.’”After news of her departure broke on Jan. 5, Rinna’s former costar Lisa Vanderpump seemingly shaded her on Twitter, writing simply “Ding dong.”

☆ Inflation cooling is good economic news. It might not feel like it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Stocks, which had risen on the “inflation is cooling” news Tuesday, were down Wednesday on the “Fed is not convinced” development. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy is trying to find the votes to become speaker, and adding a spending fight to his plate would get messy quickly. But the spending fight loomsNone of the disagreements over spending are going away. Inflation moved the electionThe difference between 7.1% month-over-month inflation and 7.7% inflation in October may not feel like much on the micro level to Americans who are paying 49% more for eggs this year than they were last year. “In the coming decade, they’re going to be fighting hard to get inflation down.”In the meantime, cooling inflation might be praised by policymakers, but it could rub everyone else the wrong way, especially if an economic slowdown starts to feel like a recession.

☆ tWitch tributes: Friends honor dancer who was 'loved by everyone'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The late Stephen “tWitch” Boss was a man who wore many hats. He was hungry, eager, and willing to do the work that would lift him in spirit and means,” she wrote. Murphy shared that the first time she met Boss, “there was something about him. Other celebrities to mourn Boss’s passing included Questlove, who wrote on Instagram, “I have no words man. Ciara continued in her missive to Boss that she always knew him “as joy, laughter, good times, and a big smile!

☆ Rupert Murdoch set to be deposed in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation case
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN Business —Rupert Murdoch, the Fox Corporation chairman, is set to be deposed next week in Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News over its coverage of election fraud in the 2020 election. Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan, the CEO of Fox Corporation, was previously scheduled to be deposed Monday morning in Los Angeles. However, Fox has previously contested Dominion’s claims and said it was “proud” of its 2020 election coverage. Dominion is one of two election technology companies to have sued Fox News. Smartmatic, another voting technology company, has filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against the network.

☆ USMNT knocked out of World Cup in round of 16 by clinical Netherlands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) was defeated 3-1 by the Netherlands and knocked out of the World Cup in the round of 16, despite a spirited performance. US President Biden expressed pride in the USMNT’s performance in the World Cup following the team’s defeat , making a nod to the next World Cup in 2026, which will be held in the US as well as Canada and Mexico. This was the USMNT’s youngest ever starting XI for a World Cup knockout match who lined up to face the Netherlands, aiming to reach the quarterfinals for just the second time in the modern era. With that goal, Dumfries became the first Dutch player to be directly involved in more than three goals in a single World Cup match since 1978, according to the statistics website OptaJoe. USMNT star Christian Pulisic said he was “really proud” of the team’s performances at the World Cup.

☆ Disney offers an Iger solution to an Iger problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bob Iger isn’t really the reset that Walt Disney (DIS.N) needs, but for now, he’s the reset the $180 billion media giant is getting. The board is mandating that Iger set the strategic direction of the company and find his successor. Reuters GraphicsFollow @jennifersaba on TwitterloadingCONTEXT NEWSWalt Disney on Nov. 20 said Bob Iger is returning as chief executive officer, effective immediately. He replaces Bob Chapek, who was named chief executive officer in February 2020, replacing Iger. Iger, 71, served as chief executive from 2005 until 2020.

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