Fox News Settles With Dominion Voting

Fox News parent Fox Corp. agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle its legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems just before the start of a trial on the voting-machine company’s allegations that it was defamed by network broadcasts after the 2020 presidential election, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Dominion alleged that Fox hosts and guests amplified false claims that its voting technology helped rig the election for Joe Biden. The company sought $1.6 billion in damages. Fox argued that it was covering newsworthy claims by associates of then-President Donald Trump and that its broadcasts should be protected by the First Amendment.

Legal observers said the agreement was the largest known media defamation settlement ever in the U.S. It ends a two-year legal battle that has threatened Fox News and cast an unflattering spotlight on its inner workings, especially during the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. If it had gone to trial, the case was set to test the contours of modern media law.

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis had already concluded that Fox News and Fox Business did in fact broadcast false claims about Dominion, voiced by both network hosts and Trump associates. Fox in a statement acknowledged the judge’s findings.

Fox said the settlement reflected its “continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”

Fox News doesn’t have to make an on-air apology as part of the agreement, people familiar with the matter said.

Dominion lawyers provided the settlement amount to reporters outside of a Delaware courthouse. Fox declined to comment on the specific dollar figure.

Neither side seemed optimistic about a deal in recent weeks, but as the trial approached they made progress. The parties engaged a mediator from dispute-resolution provider JAMS, Jerry Roscoe, who was on vacation in Romania and worked over the course of a day to bring about a deal Tuesday afternoon, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Doug Arthur, an analyst at Huber Research, said the settlement total was higher than close observers of the case expected. “This is a shocking number given the size of Dominion,” Mr. Arthur said. Though Fox has the cash on hand to pay it, “nobody can make light of an $800 million payout,” he said.