Fox Corp. Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch said Fox News’s settlement of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million was a “business decision” done to “avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and multiyear appeal process,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
Speaking to analysts on Fox Corp.’s quarterly earnings call, Mr. Murdoch said this was a decision “clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.”
Mr. Murdoch’s remarks came after Fox said it swung to a $54 million quarterly loss, primarily because of charges associated with legal-settlement costs. The company’s shares were up 0.7% in early trading Tuesday.
Fox last month agreed to settle Dominion’s lawsuit 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. Dominion alleged that Fox hosts and guests amplified false claims that its voting technology helped rig the election for Joe Biden, while 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.
Murdoch said rulings by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis before the start of the trial “severely limited” the company’s ability to defend itself on the grounds that remarks made by Fox News commentators about President Trump’s allegations of voter fraud were newsworthy.
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