JUST IN: Seth Rich’s Parents Reach Settlement With Fox News
The parents of Seth Rich have reached a settlement with Fox News.
To briefly recap, Rich — a DNC staffer who was murdered in July 2016 — was the subject of an infamous conspiracy theory involving Wikileaks and the leaked DNC emails.
Back in 2018, Rich’s parents Joel and Mary filed a lawsuit against Fox News, reporter Malia Zimmerman, and former network guest commentator Ed Butowsky over a report about Rich’s murder.
The network received serious criticism over the report, and Sean Hannity in particular was called out for covering it on his show at the time.
Fox News retracted the report amid the avalanche of criticism, saying in a statement at the time, ” The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed.”
Rich’s parents sued for infliction of emotional distress, and after a lengthy legal battle they reached a settlement with the network.
There's notice of a settlement in the suit of Joel and Mary Rich against Fox News et al. for infliction of emotional distress over the network's retracted promotion of the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. pic.twitter.com/JacS69x9fX
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) November 24, 2020
Rich’s parents said in response, “The settlement with Fox News closes another chapter in our efforts to mourn the murder of our beloved Seth, whom we miss every single day. It allows us to move on from the litigation we initiated in response to Fox News’ May 2017 article and televised statements concerning Seth’s murder. We are pleased with the settlement of this matter and sincerely hope that the media will take genuine caution in the future.”
Fox News said in a statement provided to Mediaite, “We are pleased with the resolution of the claims and hope this enables Mr. and Mrs. Rich to find a small degree of peace and solace moving forward.”
