Fox News Settles with Dominion for $787.5 Million, Ending Legal Battle over 2020 Election Lies

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Fox News Settles with Dominion for $787.5 Million, Ending Legal Battle over 2020 Election Lies

In a historic moment, Fox News reached a last-second settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, paying more than $787 million to end a colossal two-year legal battle that publicly shredded the right-wing network's credibility. The deal was announced hours after the jury was sworn in at the Delaware Superior Court, putting an end to what was set to be a six-week trial.

The $787.5 million payout is roughly half of the $1.6 billion that Dominion initially sought, though it is nearly 10 times the company's valuation from 2018, and roughly eight times its annual revenue in 2021, according to court filings. Fox News' settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company.

The lawsuit was filed by Dominion after Fox News repeatedly aired baseless claims that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. The right-wing network’s coverage of the election was filled with lies about voter fraud, with prominent on-air personalities and executives peddling these false claims to millions of viewers.

The witness list included Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, his CEO son Lachlan Murdoch, and top Fox hosts like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. Damning emails, texts, and deposition testimony made public during the case revealed that these figures, and many others at Fox, privately said in 2020 that the vote-rigging claims against Dominion were asinine. But the lies were spread on-air anyway.

Rupert Murdoch thought the election denialism was "really crazy," even as Fox personalities peddled those same claims to millions of viewers. Carlson said he "passionately" hates Donald Trump, whose presidency was a "disaster." Fox hosts, producers, fact-checkers, and senior executives privately said in the on-air claims of a stolen election were "kooky," "dangerously reckless" and "mind-blowingly nuts."

The settlement marks a significant moment in American media and politics, and has implications for the future of the First Amendment. Fox News and Fox Corporation maintain they never defamed Dominion, and say the case was a meritless assault on First Amendment press freedoms. However, the settlement suggests that the network recognized the damage it had done to Dominion's reputation and wanted to avoid a long and costly trial.

The case has also put a spotlight on the dangers of media misinformation and its impact on democracy. For months, Fox News spread baseless claims about the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, stoking unfounded fears among its viewers and contributing to the erosion of trust in American institutions. The settlement is a step toward accountability for those who spread these lies, but it is also a reminder that media outlets must take responsibility for the accuracy and veracity of their reporting.

While the Dominion case is now over, Fox News is still facing a second major defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting technology company that was similarly smeared on Fox News' shows after the 2020 election. That case is still in the discovery process, and a trial isn't expected anytime soon.

For its part, Dominion still has pending lawsuits against right-wing TV networks Newsmax and OAN, as well as against Trump allies Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell. They all deny wrongdoing.