A state judge in Delaware ruled Tuesday that the defamation lawsuit against Fox will go forward, despite the fact that the claims against a Fox subsidiary will not be heard.

Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch

The Murdochs attended the US Open in New York City.

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Delaware state Judge Eric M. Davis denied Fox Corporation's motion to dismiss the defamation suit against it, though he did dismiss some of the claims against Fox Broadcasting Company.

The Murdochs were accused in the lawsuit of allowing direct control over Fox News programming in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

There is a reasonable inference that Fox Corporation aided and abetted the creation and publication of Fox News' defamatory statements.

The judge ruled there was a reasonable inference that the Murdochs knew the fraud claims were false but pushed them anyway, which is defamation.

The second lawsuit against the parent company of Fox News was filed after Fox tried to shield the Murdochs as part of the lawsuit.

Fox Corporation has yet to respond.

According to Davis, there is a reasonable inference that the Murdochs either knew or recklessly ignored the truth when they allegedly caused Fox News to spread false information about the company.

Chief Critic

"Fox is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and we will continue to vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court." The First Amendment protects Fox News from being defamed.

Big Number

More than one billion dollars. According to the lawsuit, Fox Corporation is being sought for lost profits, enterprise value, security costs, and expenses incurred during the "disinformation campaign."

Key Background

In response to the 2020 election, the company has brought a number of defamation suits, including one against Fox Corporation, which alleges that far-right conspiracy theories tying the company's machines to election fraud have negatively impacted their business. Fox Corporation and Fox News are among the companies that have been sued by the company. Many of the same parties have been sued by Smartmatic, whose machines were involved in fraud claims. According to data cited by ProPublica, there is no evidence to support any of the fraud claims involving Smartmatic or Dominion, whose machines are used in 28 states.

Murdochs may have pushed election fraud claims. The lawsuit was filed against Fox Corp.

The Newsmax lawsuit can move forward now that the court has given it the green light.