Judge in Fox News, Dominion Case Says Network’s Legal Woes Mostly the Fault of One ‘Problem’ Host

Fox News has reached a settlement with Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, who filed a defamation lawsuit over a Lou Dobbs tweet and broadcast linking him to rigging the 2020 presidential election.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor As Fox Corp. prepares to fight a looming and high-profile defamation case, it has agreed to settle another. The company, which owns Fox News, has reached a confidential agreement to resolve a defamation case levied against it by Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil that alleged Fox News and former host Lou Dobbs had harmed Khalil’s reputation by stating he and three others developed programs and machines to rig the 2020 presidential election. “This matter has been resolved amicably by both sides. We have no further comment,” Fox News said in a statement after being contacted by Variety. A letter filed Saturday to Judge Louis L. Stanton of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York informed authorities that the parties in the case “have reached a confidential agreement to resolve this matter. The parties anticipate filing a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice early next week.”

Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” with Colin Jost and Michael Che took multiple swings at Fox News and Donald Trump on the show.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch could be called upon to testify in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit suit against Fox News and Fox Corp., per a Delaware judge who says he is not against calling upon the media moguls. If the attorneys for Dominion issue trial subpoenas to force a testimony from the Fox leaders, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said at a public hearing Wednesday he, “would not quash it and I would compel them to come,” per NBC News. “It would be my discretion that they come,” Davis said. Dominion’s attorneys requested in a letter to the court Wednesday that live testimony be required from Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, as well as Fox board member and former House Speaker Paul Ryan and Fox exec Viet Dinh. Davis approved the request to compel each of them to testify, according to NBC News.

Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, Fox Corporation board member Paul Ryan and Fox Corp. executive Viet Dinh can be compelled to testify in Dominion’s upcoming defamation trial against Fox News, a judge said on Wednesday.

UPDATED: Rupert Murdoch and Ann Lesley Smith are no longer engaged, Deadline has confirmed, only weeks after news that the two were planning to tie the knot this summer. Smith was set to be wife No. 5 for the media mogul and chairman of Fox Corp.

Rupert Murdoch‘s engagement to Ann Lesley Smith has ended, just two weeks after they announced their happy news.

Rupert Murdoch was eager to make a call and effectively — and emphatically — declare Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential race as vote counting continued three days after election day, internal Fox News emails show.The Fox News Decision Desk played a pivotal role in the turn of events that was 2020 Election Night, calling the state of Arizona for Biden many hours before any other media outlet.But it was Murdoch who encouraged Fox News leadership to pull the cattle brand from the fire and call things for Biden on Nov. 6, with several states still counting votes, emails made public Friday by Dominion Voting Systems in its $1.6 billion defamation case against the network show.“It would be great if we call it for Biden as soon as he gets over, say, 35,000 ahead in Pennsylvania,” Murdoch wrote.

 Unless Rupert Murdoch and Fox News settle soon, Dominion Voting Systems will have its day in court in its defamation case against the combative conservative cable newser.

Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham have made Fox News’ witness list for its defamation trial against Dominion Voting Systems. On Tuesday, a legal filing submitted by the network revealed a slew of people for it submitted as potential witnesses in the $1.6 billion lawsuit against the network. Among them were several Fox News other personalities including Bret Baier, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro and Lou Dobbs. Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and Fox News president Jay Wallace also made the list.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Fox News is about to have one of its biggest events in years, and everyone from CEO Suzanne Scott to prominent anchors like Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo to primetime chief Meade Cooper is likely to attend some part of it. If Fox’s parent company has its way, however, Rupert Murdoch, the guiding force behind much of Fox Corporation, will not. Starting as soon as April 17, Fox Corp. could square off in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware and face allegations of defamation from Dominion Voting Systems in a whopping $1.6 billion-dollar suit that is sure to generate headlines. Before any of that can start, however, the two sides appear to locked in a battle over whether the Fox Corp. executive chairman, and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, should be present in court to give testimony.

Dominion Voting Systems’ upcoming defamation trial against Fox News and Fox Corp., scheduled to begin on April 17, may very well feature a parade of the network’s news personalities taking the stand, with both sides in the case planning to call figures including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Bret Baier.

“How are our children still dying and why are we failing them?” exclaimed a survivor of a past mass shooting today live during Fox News’ coverage of the slaughter at a Nashville school today. “Gun violence is the number one killer of children and teens, it has overtaken cars,” she added.

appears to have a “Lou Dobbs problem.” Network attorneys also continued to underscore that real, still-viable concerns about Dominion machines exist.But on Wednesday, Murphy noted that a defamation claim needs to be brought “home to someone who’s directly involved” in decisions about what to publish or air. Davis – who has cautioned everyone not to make too much of his early inquiries – challenged that idea forthrightly:“Is Fox’s position that executives didn’t have the power to stop Lou Dobbs from doing something like that?” Davis asked.Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson seized upon the exchange Tuesday, highlighting an email from Rupert Murdoch expressing concern about the network’s positioning on the election.

Rupert Murdoch just announced that he’s engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, less than a year after finalizing his divorce from model Jerry Hall.

Rupert Murdoch is officially engaged to former police chaplain Ann Lesley Smith.

Rupert Murdoch is engaged, again.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Rupert Murdoch just can’t stay single. Less than a year after divorcing Jerry Hall, the 92-year-old Fox mogul is hearing wedding bells again. He’s engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old San Francisco police chaplain. According to gossip columnist Cindy Adams, who broke the story in the New York Post, Murdoch’s future wife was married to Chester Smith, a country-western singer, as well as a radio and TV executive who died in 2008. Adams reports that the two bonded over their shared knowledge of the media business as well as the fact that she once owned a vineyard and he still does. If they tie the knot, it will be Murdoch’s fifth marriage. Hall, a model and actress, was married to Murdoch for six years. In addition to Hall, Murdoch was previously married to Wendi Deng from 1999 to 2013; Anna Maria Torv from 1967 to 1999; and Patricia Booker, from 1956 to 1967.

It looked like a good week for Fox News on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver today as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and uncertainty in the financial world replaced the searing revelations resulting from Dominion Voting’s lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned cable newser on the HBO series.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The battle for cable-news viewers is coming to March Madness. CNN intends to run a new promo during the heavily watched NCAA men’s basketball tournament that throws a sharp verbal elbow at Fox News Channel and the legal defamation case filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems. The promos will air starting this weekend on TNT, TBS, TruTV and CBS, all of which carry the games under a joint rights agreement held by the owners of those networks, Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, which is also the parent of CNN. Fox News Channel is not mentioned in the promo script, reviewed by Variety, but the references are clear. “What should you expect of a news network?” asks the narrator. “Some bury the truth, while we fight to reveal the facts. The only side we are on is yours.” Viewers see images of CNN correspondents and anchors such as Abby Phillip and Clarissa Ward.