Fox News exec said 'the North Koreans do a more nuanced show' than the now-fired host Lou Dobbs: lawsuit
- Fox News president Jay Wallace said North Korean propaganda has more nuance than Lou Dobbs.
- Wallace's comments about Dobbs were cited in a court filing by Dominion Voting Systems.
Fox News president Jay Wallace said he thought North Korean propaganda was more subtle than the output of now-fired Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, per a new court filing.
Wallace said in September 2020 that "the North Koreans do a more nuanced show" than Dobbs, per a filing from Dominion Voting Systems released on Thursday.
North Korea is known for its steady stream of loud, emphatic propaganda that is closely controlled by Kim Jong Un's government.
Dobbs was known for having gone on his Fox Business Network show, "Lou Dobbs Tonight," to push the baseless claim that there was widespread voter fraud that rigged the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump. Dobbs' show was canceled in February 2021.
Wallace was seen stating in a separate comment in August 2021 that Fox "can barely contain Dobbs" — one of former President Donald Trump's staunchest allies, per Dominion's filing.
Fox Business is a different part of the Fox media empire to Fox News, meaning Wallace was complaining about a division of the company separate to his own.
His comments featured in a 200-page motion that was released on Thursday, seeking summary judgement in its defamation suit against Fox.
This filing was part of Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News. It includes deposition excerpts and texts from Fox News figures like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, and the company's owner, Rupert Murdoch. It did not give a precise source for the quotations from Wallace.
Dominion Voting Systems has alleged that Fox defamed it by pushing a false conspiracy theory that it manipulated election results. The voting-technology company is asking for $1.6 billion in damages.
Dominion in its Thursday filing also cited other comments from Fox figures, including an April 2021 comment from Fox executive Porter Berry that branded Dobbs as "crazy."
Carlson, the controversial Fox News host, also called Dobbs "reckless" in a July 2021 comment, per Dominion's filing.
Dobbs did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider. However, a Fox spokesperson told Insider the company's view is that Dominion has "mischaracterized the record" and "cherry-picked quotes" in its court filing.
In a statement to Insider, Fox characterized the filing as "noise and confusion generated by Dominion" but argued that "the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan," the famous Supreme-Court decision on media freedom.
Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.