In a last-minute settlement that avoided what could have been a historic defamation trial, Fox News has agreed to pay more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems. This settlement marks the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company. The two-year legal battle publicly damaged the right-wing network’s credibility, which was accused of spreading lies about voter fraud during the 2020 US presidential election.
The settlement was announced on Tuesday, just hours after the jury was sworn in at the Delaware Superior Court. Rumors of a settlement had been circulating in the courthouse, and the proceedings were halted for nearly three hours with no explanation, while the parties hammered out an agreement. The deal was reached just before the trial was set to begin, and the parties were able to avoid a lengthy trial that would have exposed Fox News’ dishonesty about the election.
The settlement is nearly 10 times the valuation of Dominion in 2018 and roughly eight times its annual revenue in 2021. The payout is roughly half of the $1.6 billion that Dominion had initially sought. The settlement means that the case is over and won’t proceed to trial. By settling with Dominion, Fox News executives and prominent on-air personalities will be spared from testifying about their 2020 election coverage, which was filled with lies about voter fraud. The witness list included Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, his CEO son Lachlan Murdoch, and top Fox hosts like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson.
The case has generated months of negative headlines for Fox News as the case moved toward trial. By settling now, Fox News avoided a chance for Dominion to further expose its dishonesty with a weeks-long trial. Fox News maintains it never defamed Dominion and says the case was a meritless assault on First Amendment press freedoms.
Dominion CEO John Poulos said outside court that “Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion that caused enormous damage to my company, our employees, and the customers that we serve.” 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. The settlement represents vindication and accountability, according to Dominion’s lawyer Justin Nelson. “For our democracy to endure for another 250 years, and hopefully much longer, we must share a commitment to facts… Today represents a ringing endorsement for truth and for democracy,” he said.