Rupert Murdoch, owner, and co-chairman of Fox Corp. expressed concern to Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott that top hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham may have gone “too far” when endorsing former President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegations regarding the 2020 presidential election being stolen.
An email sent by Murdoch on Jan. 21, 2021, to Scott stated that the network was still “getting mud thrown at us” over the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. He added that it had been suggested that the comments and remarks made by the top hosts of the network may have contributed to the resulting attack. Murdoch specifically wrote that “maybe Sean and Laura went too far.”
The email was part of the court filings in the Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion in damages defamation case brought forth against Fox News. In the case, Dominion argues that the network knowingly agreed to bring forth false claims about the elections and their software.
Fox had previously unsuccessfully tried to have the case dismissed on First Amendment grounds and has even questioned the portions that Dominion has highlighted in court filings while also doubting the accuracy of the company’s valuation.
On Tuesday, Dominion was accused by Fox of creating a smear campaign over Fox’s journalistic integrity and even pointed out that top host Maria Bartiromo had invited Dominion CEO John Poulos on her show to discuss the allegations that were being brought forth against his company.
