Rupert Murdoch’s Fox has agreed to pay $787.5mn to settle a landmark defamation case in which it was accused of broadcasting false accusations of US election fraud, according to a lawyer for voting machine maker Dominion.
A judge on Tuesday announced the “parties [had] resolved their case” following a last-minute deal reached on the cusp of a six-week trial in Delaware, which centred on claims aired on Fox News in the wake of Donald Trump’s election loss in 2020. Opening arguments were set to begin in the afternoon.
Fox will pay $787.5mn — almost half of the $1.6bn in damages sought by Dominion, lawyer Justin Nelson said in a press conference outside the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware. A spokesperson for Fox did not immediately verify the figure, which would represent one of the biggest defamation awards in US history.