Fox News agreed Tuesday to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit over controversial claims by former President Donald Trump’s allies on the network following the 2020 presidential election.
The stunning settlement emerged just as opening statements were supposed to begin, abruptly ending a case that had Fox News reeling over several months and raised the possibility that network founder Rupert Murdoch and stars such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity would have to testify publicly.
Trump called on Fox News to double down and embrace his controversial election claims in a court of law, but in the face of a jury trial the network made a historic settlement instead.
“The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson told reporters outside a Delaware courthouse after Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced the deal.
Outside of the $787.5 million promised to Colorado-based Dominion, it was unclear what other consequences Fox would face.
Fox News made the following statement —
We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.
Asked by a reporter whether there was “anything to this other than money,” Dominion CEO John Poulos did not answer.
The deal is a significant amount of money even for a company the size of Fox. It represents about one-quarter of the $2.96 billion the company reported earning last year before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — a figure often used to approximate a company’s cash flow.
Coupled with other lawsuits in the pipeline, the agreement shows there is a real financial risk for Fox News channel and other conservative media.
It’s hard to tell what the deal will mean financially for Dominion. The company would not provide its most recent earnings, saying the figures were not public.
Dominion had sued both Fox News and its parent, Fox Corp, and said its business had been significantly damaged. Fox said the company grossly overestimated its losses, before agreeing to pay about half of what Dominion had asked for.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article