Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity won't have to apologize on air for broadcasting false claims about Dominion as Fox News ponies up $787 million
- Dominion Voting Systems settled its major defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Tuesday.
- Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million and acknowledged that false claims were broadcast.
As part of its settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, Fox News hosts won't have to apologize on air for broadcasting false claims, a person familiar with the terms told Insider.
Fox settled the defamation lawsuit on Tuesday, just as the trial was set to begin, agreeing to pay Dominion $787.5 million. The settlement means the network's top on-air talent — including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity — will avoid being grilled on the witness stand.
They also won't have to issue retractions or make any other statements on TV, the source said, even though the network acknowledged false statements were broadcast.
"We acknowledge the Court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false," a Fox spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "This settlement reflects FOX's continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues."
The judge in the case has already ruled Fox had broadcasts false statements about Dominion, and that Dominion only had to prove that Fox acted with "actual malice," which would mean they knowingly and intentionally ignored the truth to broadcast falsehoods.
The falsehoods included claims about Dominion that were made by then-Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who appeared as guests on several Fox shows. The lawyers were pushing a false conspiracy theory about Dominion flipping votes from former President Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
Fox argued it was reporting the news and that its broadcasts of Powell's and Giuliani's false claims were protected by the First Amendment.