A judge said Fox News had a "credibility problem" just days before a $1.6 billion defamation trial after the company disclosed for the first time in nearly two years of litigation that Rupert Murdoch was an officer of the company.
Reuters reports Superior Court Judge Eric Davis called the delayed disclosure "bizarre" and chided Fox attorneys for having previously made representations that Murdoch wasn't an officer of Fox News, only to reverse on the eve of a trial set to begin Monday over the broadcaster's coverage of false claims the 2020 Presidential election was rigged.
"I'm not very happy right now," Judge Davis said during a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware. "You (Fox News) have a credibility problem."
A Fox spox released the following statement:
“Rupert Murdoch has been listed as executive chairman of FOX News in our SEC filings since 2019 and this filing was referenced by Dominion’s own attorney during his deposition.”
Dominion Voting Systems alleges Fox damaged its business by knowingly and repeatedly airing false claims that Dominion voting machines were used to flip the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, who won.
An attorney for Dominion, Justin Nelson, said his client only learned of Murdoch's role on Sunday and got its first document with Murdoch's title of Fox News executive chairman on Tuesday morning. Murdoch, chairman of Fox News parent company Fox Corp, is expected to testify in court.
According to Reuters, shareholder Robert Schwarz alleged in the lawsuit filed in Delaware Chancery Court that the directors breached their duties to ensure that Fox followed its own ethical standards and avoided reputational risk, and instead sought to keep supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump tuned in.
"FOX knew – from the Board on down – that Fox News was reporting false and dangerous misinformation about the 2020 Presidential election, but FOX was more concerned about short-term ratings and market share than the long-term damages of its failure to tell the truth," he said in the lawsuit, which did not say how many shares he owned.
The lawsuit seeks damages for the company from Rupert Murdoch, his son and Fox Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch, and fellow directors Chase Carey, Roland Hernandez and Jacques Nasser. It also seeks unspecified corporate governance reforms.
Schwarz said the board's failure to act on "red flags" subjected the network to defamation claims by two voting technology companies that Fox reported were involved in a conspiracy to steal the U.S. presidential election from Trump.
Together, the two lawsuits by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic USA seek damages totaling $4 billion.
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