Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch is dropping his defamation claimagainst Australian news site Crikey over a column that connected him to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
11.04.2023 - 17:11 / deadline.com
As Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News heads to a trial next week, the judge in the case placed limits on what attorneys can and cannot bring up before the jury.
Judge Eric M. Davis said that he would restrict references to the January 6th attack on the Capitol, saying that they would be prejudicial and were not relevant to the case.
“Stay far away from it,” he told attorneys at a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday.
Dominion’s attorneys argued that the references were important because of messages showing that, after the attack on the Capitol, Fox executives wanted to “pivot” away from Donald Trump’s stolen election claims.
But Davis said that attorneys could still question a figure like Rupert Murdoch more generally on why the network wanted to veer away from Donald Trump and his vote rigging allegations. In messages previously disclosed in the case, Murdoch wrote on January 8 to a former executive Preston Padden that Fox News is “very busy pivoting. We want to make Trump a non person.” Several days later, Murdoch told son Lachlan to tell a Fox Corp. board member that “Fox News, which called the election correctly, is pivoting as fast as possible. We have to lead our viewers which is not as easy as it might seem.”
The judge also limited what Dominion could say to the jury about threats that the company received as Trump and his allies made numerous false allegations that it was involved in vote rigging. Dominion attorneys have argued that, amid the allegations made against the company and amplified on Fox News, it was forced to increase security and harmed its ability to recruit employees.
Davis said that he was not downplaying the threats, but “I don’t want the jury to be completely swayed by
Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch is dropping his defamation claimagainst Australian news site Crikey over a column that connected him to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Dan Bongino is departing Fox News, as the conservative host announced that his program last weekend was his last.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Dan Bongino, one of the most right-leaning hosts in the Fox News stable, is leaving the network after the Fox Corp.-backed outlet and he could not come to terms on a new contract. “Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel,” Bongino said on his podcast Thursday. “It’s tough. It’s tough to say that. You know, I’ve been there doing hits and working there for ten years…so the show ending was tough. And I want you to know it’s not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There’s no acrimony. This wasn’t some WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension. Bongino, who joined Fox News as a contributor in 2019, began hosting the Saturday-night program “Unfiltered With Dan Bongino” on Fox News in 2021.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox Corp. has put increasing amounts of money behind news and sports in recent years. But that doesn’t mean the company is completely free of drama. A landmark $787.5 million settlement made Tuesday between Fox and the voting-technology company Dominion Voting Systems does not end what is likely to be a period of tumult for the owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcasting network. The payment to Dominion to keep an explosive investigation into how Fox News disseminated conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election out of the public sphere does nothing to alleviate another wave of scrutiny likely to come from another, similar lawsuit.
John Poulos, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, defended the $787.5 billion settlement with Fox News and Fox Corp., telling Good Morning America that “all of the facts we had discovered during the case had already come to light.”
Let the gloating begin.
Fox has admitted telling lies, the company CEO John Poulos says in press conference.Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch had been scheduled to be among the first witnesses in the trial, which legal analysts said was tilted heavily against the media company.
Fox News has settled Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned organization, averting a lengthy, expensive and certain to be embarrassing trial.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox Corporation and Dominion Voting Systems agreed to settle a much-discussed $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit mere hours after a jury had been seated to consider the matter in Delaware’s Superior Court. Attorneys for the two sides had been set to deliver opening statements to the jury. But that activity was delayed Tuesday after Judge Eric M. Davis called for a lunch break. “The parties have resolved their case,” the judge said. The legal case had already generated intense scrutiny, with documents, emails and texts from senior Fox executives and well-known Fox News anchors and hosts all suggesting many people at the company knew they were disseminating conspiracy theories around the 2020 presidential election and Dominion Voting’s role in it.
A jury has been seated in the Dominion vs. Fox News trial, kicking off at last what is being billed as the “defamation trial of the century,” with the prospect of the network’s star hosts and Rupert Murdoch himself taking the stand.
After a one-day delay and amidst whispers of settlement talks, Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox News is set to begin Tuesday in Wilmington, DE.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rupert Murdoch can breathe easy for at least one more day. The judge overseeing the much-scrutinized defamation trial brought against Fox News and its parent, Fox Corp., has delayed its start by a day, according to a statement issued by Delaware’s Superior Court, where the case is being heard. The decision is sure to raise speculation that the two sides may be seeking a settlement. “The Court has decided to continue the start of the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. I will make such an announcement tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 7E,” Judge Eric Davis said in a note Sunday evening.
The start of the Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation trail against Fox News that was to start Monday has now been delayed until Tuesday.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The greatest show Fox News may ever put on is about to start. Imagine a Fox News program that utilizes the talents of the no-nonsense news anchor Bret Baier along with those of the opinion host Tucker Carlson. One that also puts anchor “The Five” mainstays Dana Perino and Jeanine Pirro into the mix, along with business anchor and commentator Maria Bartiromo. One that features possible appearances by Fox News executives like Suzanne Scott, the CEO of the operation, and Jay Wallace, its top news executive. A program that tops it all off with a potential cameo by Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, two of the controlling shareholders of Fox News’ media-conglomerate parent, Fox Corporation.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Brian Stelter is getting ready to write a new chapter in his ongoing analysis of Fox News Channel. The former anchor of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” is gearing up for “Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy,” a look at the Fox Corp. cable outlet’s trajectory following the 2020 election and through the much-scrutinized defamation trial brought against it by Dominion Voting Systems. That court proceeding is slated to open Monday. “Network of Lies” is billed as a sequel of sorts to Stelter’s 2020 book “Hoax,” which offered a deep look behind the mechanics of how Fox News Channel produces its news coverage and opinion programming. Stelter’s new book proposes to examine how Fox News proceeded after the election of President Joe Biden and how it oriented itself after President Donald Trump left office. The book, published by One Signal, an imprint of Simon & Schuster’s Atria division, is scheduled to debut in November of 2023.
the Los Angeles Times, and it wasn’t his only rebuke of the defense: Davis also said during Wednesday’s pretrial conference that he was considering sanctions against network lawyers for not properly disclosing that Rupert Murdoch was has an executive chair role at Fox News.The existence of the tapes came to light last week in a separate civil action filed against Fox News by Abby Grossberg, a former Maria Bartiromo producer. Grossberg is separately suing the network for discrimination and wrongful termination.In that lawsuit, the plaintiffs presented taped conversations with Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell that were recorded before and after appearances on Bartiromo’s show in November 2020.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor A judge overseeing a much-scrutinized defamation trial brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News and its corporate parent has admonished attorneys for the media company several times this week in preliminary hearings and suggested Wednesday he may appoint an outside monitor to ensure Fox isn’t withholding evidence. Judge Eric M. David of Delaware’s Superior Court suggested Wednesday that he might appoint a special master to probe whether Fox lied about withholding evidence after Dominion attorneys made a presentation about materials not given to them in the discovery process that they believe are warranted. There were also claims made that Fox Corp. declined to acknowledge that Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of Fox Corp., was also an officer of Fox News — a detail that would affect what kinds of materials Dominion could obtain.
Fox News has reached a settlement with Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, who filed a defamation lawsuit over a Lou Dobbs tweet and broadcast linking him to rigging the 2020 presidential election.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor As Fox Corp. prepares to fight a looming and high-profile defamation case, it has agreed to settle another. The company, which owns Fox News, has reached a confidential agreement to resolve a defamation case levied against it by Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil that alleged Fox News and former host Lou Dobbs had harmed Khalil’s reputation by stating he and three others developed programs and machines to rig the 2020 presidential election. “This matter has been resolved amicably by both sides. We have no further comment,” Fox News said in a statement after being contacted by Variety. A letter filed Saturday to Judge Louis L. Stanton of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York informed authorities that the parties in the case “have reached a confidential agreement to resolve this matter. The parties anticipate filing a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice early next week.”
Trump critic Maggie Haberman to provide indictment-inspired ASMR for total relaxation through trying times. “These days, it’s hard not to feel stressed out and overwhelmed. Sure, Trump got indicted.