NEW YORK (AP) – Fox News paid $787 million in down payment settle a current lawsuit on its post-election reporting in 2020 to avoid a controversial trial and a lengthy appeals process, the parent company’s chief executive said Tuesday.
Lachlan Murdoch, Fox Corp. chairman and CEO, also noted that a Delaware judge “seriously qualified” Fox’s defense against Dominion Voting Systems because the network had defamed it the dissemination of false allegations of voter fraud that it knew it was untrue.
Fox Corp. announced on Tuesday that the company had lost $50 million in the past three months as a result of the legal settlement. Murdoch, who was answering questions from financial analysts, spoke publicly for the first time since the end of the case and Fox fired his favorite anchorTucker Carlson.
Murdoch said viewers and investors shouldn’t expect a change in direction from Fox News.
“We have made the business decision to settle this dispute and avoid the bitterness of a controversial lawsuit and a multi-year appeals process, a decision that is clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” he said.
Fox still believes it properly exercised its First Amendment rights to report on former President Donald Trump’s newsworthy allegations of fraud, even if that defense was shot down in a year pre-trial judgment in the Dominion case, Murdoch said.
That’s important as Murdoch said Fox intends to use the same defense against a similar lawsuit by another choice technology company, Smartmatic. That case is not expected to be heard before 2025 at the earliest, he said.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, file
Although Murdoch was asked directly about Carlson’s departure, he did not mention the former prime-time host’s name, indirectly referring to his reign. Fox has not explained why it cut ties with Carlson.
“There is no change in programming strategy at Fox News,” he said. “It’s obviously a winning strategy. As always, we are adjusting our program and line-up and will continue to do so.”
Although Fox News was hurt by Carlson’s exit, he remains the leading cable news channel.
Fox has lost viewers following Carlson’s firing. Last week’s stand-in presenter Lawrence Jones hit between 1.28 million and 1.7 million last week in a window when Carlson normally drew around 3 million, the company Nielsen said.
Still, Fox added more than 40 new advertisers that hour, the network said, confirming a Variety report. Advertisers like Gillette, Scott’s Miracle Gro and Secret Deodorant, who viewed Carlson’s show as a toxic environment, signed on.
