The presenters of “The View” on ABC were enraged by the conclusion of Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox News.
Fox News agreed to pay Dominion a record $757.5 for defamation, but the news network was not required to issue an apology. The settlement was reached on Tuesday.
“Fox News CEO admitted in a deposition the network knew they were pushing lies,” cohost Whoopi Goldberg said. “Should they have had to go onto their own network and say, look, yes, we lied to y’all. And we knew it and we had to pay this money because we lied to y’all. They don’t have to do that. They don’t have to admit any wrongdoing.”
“That’s my biggest problem with it because we already know the Fox News viewer exclusively gets his or her news from Fox News on air,” co-host Sunny Hostin said. “They don’t read other newspapers, they don’t get news from any other outlet, and the fact the New York Times is covering it and CNN is covering it, that’s fine. But they need to be able to get on air and tell their viewers, ‘you can’t trust us. We lied to you. We affected our very democracy. Some of our anchors can’t be trusted,’ and they needed to say that.”
Hostin believed that the $757.5 million award, the highest in the history of defamation lawsuits, was insufficient.
“To me, anything under $1 billion I don’t think sends the right message because Rupert Murdoch, every year, I think he has $2.9 billion in pro forma earnings that Fox News makes, and he still has $4 billion in cash as of February. In my view, it didn’t sting enough for what they actually did,” she said.
“You wanted to hear Tucker go out there…but I think is’ good, it’s OK, because, I mean, you’re disappointed, but there are other lawsuits coming up,” cohost Joy Behar said. “If Rupert [Murdoch] wanted to maintain any integrity, he’d fire Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity.”
“I understand there’s a lot coming down the pike,” cohost Whoopi Goldberg said. “But I don’t like the idea that they don’t have to say it out loud. I don’t like that you’re hoping people will read the deposition. I wanted them to have to say, ‘we lied. And we knew we were lying but we lied anyway.’”
FOX NEWS SETTLES DOMINION DEFAMATION SUIT: After a $787.5 million settlement was reached in Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against the network over false election claims, #TheView co-hosts question if justice was served. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/o6sLjuXV1T
— The View (@TheView) April 19, 2023
The judge previously stated that the trial would be postponed until yesterday, leading many to speculate that the parties were negotiating a settlement.
“The delay immediately triggered speculation that some sort of settlement talks are in the works, as is not unusual at the last minute before high stakes and big bucks litigation heads to trial. A well-informed legal source said that there were talks but no deal and that the situation remains fluid,” Deadline reported.
Monday morning, the judge made an announcement in court as rumors of a potential settlement between Dominion and Fox News intensify.
“Dominion/Fox judge in court just now said he expects trial to proceed tomorrow, saying ‘this is not unusual.’ ‘This is not a press conference,’ Judge Davis said. ‘I have made the decision to delay the start of the trial until tomorrow.’ no mention of a settlement talks,” ABC News reporter Olivia Rubin tweeted on Monday.
Dominion/Fox judge in court just now said he expects trial to proceed tomorrow, saying "this is not unusual."
"This is not a press conference," Judge Davis said. "I have made the decision to delay the start of the trial until tomorrow."
no mention of a settlement talks.
— Olivia Rubin (@OliviaRubinABC) April 17, 2023
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“In court on Monday morning, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, who is presiding over the lawsuit, said he decided to push back the beginning of the trial to Tuesday, instead of Monday as scheduled. He didn’t explain the reasons for the move. Davis initially announced the move through a court spokesperson on Sunday night. In court on Monday, he said he asked jurors to return on Tuesday morning and told them not to read any media coverage of the case,” Business Insider reported. CONTINUE READING…
