Fox News has settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, in what is the largest media defamation settlement in history (The Washington Post). The lawsuit was related to false claims that Dominion Voting Systems had manipulated the 2020 presidential election results (CNBC). Dominion Voting Systems had accused Fox News of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories (ABC News). Fox News’s legal troubles related to the 2020 presidential election are far from over, despite its massive settlement with Dominion Voting, as it still faces a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic (The Washington Post).
The settlement came on the day when the jury for Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News was supposed to start hearing the case (CBS News). The settlement ended a defamation lawsuit over broadcasting falsehoods about the voting systems (MSNBC News). The lawsuit was brought by Dominion Voting Systems after Fox News had repeatedly aired claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election (Rolling Stone).
The settlement was reached just before the start of the trial, in what would have been a high-stakes defamation case (ABC News). Fox Corporation and its cable networks agreed to pay the settlement (CNBC). The settlement was announced after a 12-member jury and 12 alternates had been selected (CBS News). The trial’s judge said the settlement would avoid a public airing of the network’s dirty laundry (Rolling Stone).
The settlement does not end Fox News’s legal troubles related to the 2020 presidential election, as it still faces a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic (The Washington Post). A former Fox News producer claims to have found more evidence relevant to Dominion’s lawsuit, which could further complicate Fox News’s legal matters (NBC News).
