Fox News settles defamation case for $787.5 mn, avoiding trial

Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement on April 18 in a defamation case brought by voting technology company Dominion that alleged the network knowingly aired false claims linking its machines to a conspiracy to undermine the 2020 U.S. election.

Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement on April 18 in a defamation case brought by voting technology company Dominion that alleged the network knowingly aired false claims linking its machines to a conspiracy to undermine the 2020 U.S. election.

The agreement to end the case avoided what most experts suggested would have been a damaging, high-profile trial for the conservative channel in which owner Rupert Murdoch would have been compelled to testify in open court.

Judge Eric Davis announced the last-minute agreement after the 12 jurors had been selected and the Delaware Superior Court was readying to hear opening arguments.

Fox News said in a statement it was "pleased" to have ended the dispute and added: "We acknowledge the court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false."

Dominion CEO John Poulos told reporters outside the court that Fox had "admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees, and our customers. Nothing can ever make up for that."

The proceedings, trailed by the New York Times as "the defamation trial of the century," had been due to test the limits of free speech rights for media in America when wilfully broadcasting misinformation.

Analysts had predicted it could be one of the most consequential libel hearings in U.S. legal history.