The conservative network Fox News has announced the cancellation of its most watched program, the presenter Lou Dobbs show, following a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by the voting software company Smartmatic in response to the electoral manipulation statements made by Dobbs during and after the American elections.
The move, advanced by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by a Fox News spokesperson on Friday, came a day after Fox and Dobbs were featured, among other network presenters, in the $ 2.7 billion defamation lawsuit. presented by Smartmatic.
In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson described the move as a planned decision before the lawsuit.
“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and has plans to launch new formats as appropriate after the election, including on Fox Business. It is part of those planned changes,” according to the spokesperson.
Dobbs’s show ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight’ will be replaced by ‘Fox Business Tonight’ with hosts Jackie DeAngelis and David Asman.
The cancellation ends Dobbs’ 10-year career with the network, where he has served for some time as one of the staunchest defenders of Trump and his conspiracy theories.
Smartmatic’s lawsuit alleges that Fox News, three of its presenters (Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro), and Trump’s attorneys, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, defamed the company by claiming unfoundedly that Smartmatic was used to manipulate the 2020 elections.
In at least 13 different cases, according to the statement of objections, the presenters or their guests lied about Smartmatic and its role in the 2020 elections by claiming that it was being used to change the outcome in battlefield districts. Smartmatic software was only used in Los Angeles County and there is no evidence of voter fraud).
If Fox News, which for some time has lost its leadership position as the country’s cable news network, were forced to pay Smartmatic what the company requests, almost all of the profits that the company generated would be nullified. for its parent company, Fox Corp., in fiscal 2019.
In an additional statement, Fox News reiterated its commitment to providing the full context of each story with in-depth reporting and a clear opinion. “We are proud of our coverage of the 2020 elections and will vigorously defend this claim, which is without merit, in court,” the statement added.
