Fox News is still as Fox News-y as ever, but behind the scenes they’re in trouble. Ever since 2021 they’ve been embroiled in a $1.6 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, which had been a frequent target of conspiracy theories spewed on the network soon after the 2020 election. Recently leaked texts between their own hosts reveal that even they knew a lot of what their guests were saying was pure uncut bunk. Now it’s been revealed that so did their big boss, at least to a certain degree.
As per The New York Times, Rupert Murdoch was deposed last month, during which he was asked if hosts like Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Piro, and Lou Dobbs had promoted false narratives. “They endorsed,” Murdoch replied under oath. He added, “I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight.”
At one point, Murdoch was asked if he could have stopped his employees from bringing on such nonsense-spouters as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell — both of whom are also being sued by Dominion — he replied, “I could have. But I didn’t.”
Dominion’s central argument in their lawsuit is that Fox News hosts knew the conspiracy theories they were spreading were just that, and Murdoch’s testimony should help bolster that. Ditto his hosts’ texts, which include such things as Tucker Carlson saying Powell was “lying” and Laura Ingraham calling her a “complete nut.”
And if matters weren’t worse, their old favorite son, former president Donald Trump, just took his beef with them to a new, even more dumber level.
(Via NYT)