Reported by Kerry Howard Mwesigwa
The 1.6 billion defamation lawsuit in Wilmington, Delaware,was supplanted with a settlement where Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems over its amplification of false claims about the 2020 presidential election.
Dominion Voting Systems claimed that Fox News aired unfounded claims that their voting machines were used to tilt the election in favor of Joe Biden, causing damage to its business. Fox News avoided a lengthy trial, which could have led to testimony from its biggest stars and top managers. The settlement has dealt a significant financial blow to Fox, which had about $4.1 billion in cash at the end of last year, and faces other potentially costly lawsuits related to its coverage of the 2020 election.
Dominion initially sought $1.6 billion in damages alleging that the channel’s coverage of conspiracy theories caused $921m in damage to its overall value as a business, in addition to $88m in lost profits, $600m in lost future profits, and an unspecified amount of punitive damages but settled for the $787.5 million offered by Fox News.
The settlement did not require Fox News to apologize on air but acknowledged that certain claims about Dominion aired on its programming were false.
