Fox News will pay over $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems after the two companies reached a last-minute settlement on Tuesday (18) in the defamation case brought by the company that produces and sells hardware and software for electronic voting against the news network.
The Dominion accused Fox News of destroying its reputation by knowingly broadcasting lies that the company had rigged the 2020 presidential election.
The agreed amount is the largest publicly known defamation compensation in U.S. history involving a media company.
The last-minute settlement means the case is closed and will not go to trial. By settling with Dominion, Fox News executives will be spared from testifying about the 2020 election coverage, which was filled with lies about electoral fraud.
Thus, Fox also prevents the technology company from further exposing the lies spread and the dishonesty of the network’s executives during weeks of trial.
The witness list included Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch, his son, who is the company’s CEO, Lachlan Murdoch, and top Fox hosts like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
Emails, texts, and damning testimonies made public during the case revealed that these individuals, and many others at Fox, privately stated in 2020 that the allegations of electoral fraud against Dominion were nonsense. Yet, the lies were aired.
“This settlement reflects Fox’s ongoing commitment to the highest journalistic standards,” Fox said in a statement. “We hope that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, rather than through the bitterness of a trial, allows the country to move forward on these issues.”