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Barry Diller, Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC and the Expedia Group, said that Fox News “should lose” the Dominion lawsuit, but added that the suit was overblown.
“I hope they lose it. I think they should lose it. So what? They’ll pay it?” the billionaire Hollywood and tech executive told Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith at the Semafor Media Summit on Monday. “Is it going to worsen Rupert Murdoch’s reputation?” he joked.
Diller and Rupert Murdoch founded the Fox TV Network.
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Diller’s comments come as Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox is ramping up. The case goes to trial later this month in Delaware, with jury selection beginning this week. Dominion has argued that hosts on Fox News knowingly made false statements about the validity of the 2020 election.
Fox has maintained that its coverage is protected by the First Amendment.
In a filing last week, the judge in Delaware Superior Court overseeing the case seemed to dismiss some of Fox’s arguments.
“It appears oxymoronic to call the statements ‘opinions’ while also asserting the statements are newsworthy allegations and/or substantially accurate reports of official proceedings,” he said.
Last week, Fox Corp. settled a defamation case with the Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil, who sued the company for defamation over 2020 election claims made about him on Fox News.
