AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corporation, sat for under oath questioning in the Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, part of which was released to the public on Tuesday — offering insight into Murdoch’s management style and opinions.
The eldest son of Fox Corp. Chairman and News Corp. founder, Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan was named chairman and CEO of the Fox Corporation in March 2019 and is being sued by Dominion alongside his father over allegations that Fox News knowingly spread false information about the company in the form of 2020 election conspiracy theories.
Many of the bombshell revelations coming out of the Dominion court filings have focused on Fox News hosts and executives airing private concerns and feelings regarding then-President Donald Trump in the days following the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
For example, the Monday document dump included a text message from controversial, top-rated host Tucker Carlson saying, “I hate him passionately” – in reference to Donald Trump, who Carlson boosts on air.
At one point in the questioning, Lachlan Murdoch was asked to react to one of Carlson’s controversial on-air statements by Dominion’s lawyers, in a line of questioning aimed at detailing Murdoch’s editorial involvement at Fox News.
“Did you speak to him privately about the comments about immigrants making America poorer and dirtier?” Murdoch was asked, in reference to Carlson.
“I don’t recall whether I spoke to Mr. Carlson or whether I spoke to Suzanne Scott. I just don’t recall,” Murdoch replied.
“Do you personally think that immigrants coming to the United States make America poorer and dirtier?” the lawyer follows up.
“I’m very pro-immigrant. My family are immigrants as well,” replied Murdoch, noting his family’s roots in Australia.
As the line of questioning pivots to Murdoch’s level of editorial control, the lawyer asks, “Do you think it would make Tucker Carlson’s job too hard if you directly criticized him?”
“I think the question is where would it stop? I’m not the CEO of Fox News. I’m not responsible for the editorial on Fox News. I don’t make editorial decisions on Fox News. For me to criticize or to endorse or even talk about a newspaper article or a Fox News opinion piece, I think it becomes very challenging. And I think it’s ultimately — ultimately the wrong thing – the wrong thing to do,” Murdoch replied.
The line of questioning then mumped back to whether or not Murdoch told Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott to somehow “handle” Carlson after his highly controversial comments on immigrants.
“Do you think it was an inappropriate comment that she should have handled in some way?” Murdoch is asked.
“ I don’t think the wording — I’m just trying to think back a few years now. So I think the insinuation is absolutely wrong. I don’t think immigrants make the country poorer or more dirty. I actually think they make the country richer and are very important in the American fabric of life. So I’m very pro-immigrant,” Murdoch repeated, adding:
I think that — and I’m trying to recall Mr. Carlson’s comments were not exactly as reported, but that the insinuation is the wrong insinuation, which I don’t support.
Fox News released the following statement regarding court documents being made public Monday:
Thanks to today’s filings, Dominion has been caught red handed using more distortions and misinformation in their PR campaign to smear FOX News and trample on free speech and freedom of the press. We already know they will say and do anything to try to win this case, but to twist and even misattribute quotes to the highest levels of our company is truly beyond the pale.