Fox faces yet another lawsuit—this time from one of its own shareholders.
A Fox Corp. investor sued Rupert Murdoch and four other board members over the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election.
On Tuesday (Apr. 11), shareholder Robert Schwarz filed the lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that Fox was aware it was reporting false information during its coverage of the election, but was more focused on ratings and revenue than accurate reporting.
“The Board’s decision to chase viewers by promoting the false stolen election claims has exposed the Company to public ridicule and negatively impacted the credibility of Fox News as a media organization that is supposed to accurately report newsworthy events,” said the filing, which claims Fox failed in its fiduciary duties.
The suit seeks damages from News Corp. executive chairman Rupert Murdoch, Fox Corp. CEO and executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch, and directors Chase Carey, Roland Hernandez, and Jacques Nasser.
“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.” —A quote from plaintiff Robert Schwarz’s filing with the Delaware Chancery Court
Jury selection begins in the Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion suit against Fox News and Fox Corp. in the Delaware Supreme Court on Apr. 13. The voting equipment company alleges that the network’s 2020 election-rigging claims ruined its business.
Fox has defended its coverage as newsworthy and called the suit an attack on freedom of the press. Yesterday (Apr. 11), a judge ruled that Fox could not use newsworthiness to defend its broadcast of misinformation, hampering a main line of defense.
Smartmatic, another voting system manufacturer, filed a lawsuit against Fox in February 2021, and is demanding $2.7 billion in damages. Its suit claims the network destroyed the company’s reputation through over 100 false claims made about the firm during its coverage of the 2020 US election.
On Sunday (Apr. 9), Fox and one of its former hosts, Lou Dobbs, settled a defamation lawsuit with a Venezuelan businessman. Dobbs accused the businessman, Majed Khalil, of being involved in rigging the 2020 election against Donald Trump. The terms of the settlement have been kept private.
➗ Rupert Murdoch has decided against reuniting his two media firms that he split up 10 years ago
💥 US right-wing media is in a civil war after Trump’s defeat
⏬ National news consumption in the US is down—especially among Democrats
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