Judge Dismisses Defamation Suit Against Fox News

A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a defamation lawsuit against Fox News brought by a man who claimed that the network’s former star host, Tucker Carlson, had falsely accused him of being a government provocateur who instigated the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The NY Times reports the judge, Jennifer L. Hall, ruling from the bench in Federal District Court in Wilmington, Del., dismissed the defamation claims by the man, Ray Epps. He and his lawyers had failed to prove that Mr. Carlson had acted with “actual malice,” the judge said.

Epps had accused Mr. Carlson last summer of promoting a “fantastical story” that he was an undercover agent who had helped foment the riot at the Capitol to disparage President Donald J. Trump and his followers.

Ray Epps

Defamation lawsuits are notoriously difficult to win — especially those brought against members of the news media. Judge Hall seemed to acknowledge as much by saying that even if Mr. Carlson had “engaged in subpar journalism” or failed to fully investigate Mr. Epps’s story, that did not mean he had acted with malicious intent.

The dismissal of Epps’s case was a victory for Carlson, who left Fox last year.

In a statement, Fox said the dismissal of Epps’s case was the third time in recent months that judges had tossed out defamation claims against the network.

“Fox News is pleased with these back-to-back decisions from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” the network’s statement said.

Epps, a former Trump supporter who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for his role in the Capitol attack, filed his suit against Fox in July 2023, claiming that Mr. Carlson had turned him into “a scapegoat” for the events of Jan. 6.