Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation, dropped a defamation case against Australian publisher Crikey just days after Fox News settled its own defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems in the US. The case would have involved the use of documents from the American case in Crikey's defense. Murdoch did not wish to "further enable Crikey's use of the court to litigate a case from another jurisdiction that has already been settled and facilitate a marketing campaign designed to attract subscribers and boost their profits," according to his attorney.
Lachlan Murdoch, co-chair of News Corp and CEO of Fox Corporation, has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Australian news website Crikey. Murdoch's decision came days after Fox News settled a historic defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for a record $787 million. Lawyers for Crikey had indicated they would use evidence that related to the Dominion suit in their case, which was due to go to trial this year. Crikey had set up a fund-raising campaign to defend the case, which had raised AU$588,735 (about $396,000) as of Thursday.
Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation, has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Australian news and commentary site Crikey after it called him an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the January 6 attack. Murdoch's decision comes after Fox News settled a defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems for $787 million and another settlement with a Venezuelan businessman. Crikey had explored admitting some of the revelations from the Dominion lawsuit as evidence in its own case. Private Media, Crikey's publisher, called the retreat "a substantial victory for legitimate public interest journalism."
Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation, dropped his defamation suit against Australian publisher Private Media, which owns news website Crikey, two days after his company settled a libel suit against them. Murdoch sued Private Media in August over an opinion piece published by Crikey that linked the Murdoch family to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Murdoch's lawyer said Crikey intended to exploit the outcome of the Fox-Dominion defamation case in the U.S. The Dominion case was settled on Tuesday for $787.5 million just as a trial was about to begin.
