Latest news with #defamation
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Gavin Newsom sues Fox News for defamation and demands $787m
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has sued Fox News for defamation and demanded $787m, almost exactly the same amount Fox paid in a previous defamation case over election misinformation. In the new lawsuit, filed on Friday, Newsom accuses the Fox host Jesse Watters of falsely claiming Newsom lied about a phone call with Donald Trump, who recently ordered national guard troops into Los Angeles. Newsom's attorneys say Watters aired a deceptively edited clip of Trump suggesting he spoke with the governor just before the military deployment, when in fact records show the call occurred days earlier, on 7 June. The lawsuit alleges that Fox manipulated the footage to push a false narrative that Newsom had misled the public. Trump had told reporters on 10 June he had spoken with Newsom 'a day ago', appearing to imply a conversation occurred on the same day that 700 US marines were deployed to LA. Newsom denied Trump's claim, writing on X minutes later: 'There was no call. Not even a voicemail. Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn't even know who he's talking to.' The lawsuit says that Fox's own reporting confirmed Newsom's version. While Watters aired Trump's edited quote and asked viewers 'Why would Newsom lie?', the host simultaneously showed a screenshot of Trump's call history, which confirmed the most recent call was 7 June. Newsom's complaint also accuses the network of violating California's Unfair Competition Law by engaging in deceptive business practices. The damages sought mirror the $787.5m Fox paid Dominion Voting Systems in 2023 to settle a separate defamation case over election misinformation. 'If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump's behalf, it should face consequences – just like it did in the Dominion case,' Newsom told Politico in a statement. 'Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.' The governor's team told Politico that they would drop the case if Fox retracts the claims and Watters issues an on-air apology. Newsom said legal costs would come from his campaign funds, and that if the case is successful the proceeds will go to support anti-Trump causes. A Fox News spokesperson said: 'Governor Newsom's transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.' Trump has had his own legal battles with media outlets. He recently secured a $15m settlement from ABC over comments made by George Stephanopoulos, and he has sued CBS over alleged interview manipulation by its 60 Minutes program during the 2024 campaign, a case which remains unresolved.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Newsom sues Fox News for defamation over story about phone call with Trump
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing Fox News for defamation, alleging that the news outlet intentionally manipulated its coverage to give the appearance that the governor lied about a phone call with President Trump. The governor's demand for $787 million in punitive damages escalates his aggressive effort to challenge misinformation. The lawsuit, announced Friday, places Newsom at the forefront of the political proxy war between Democrats and Republicans over the press by calling out an outlet that many in his party despise. "By disregarding basic journalistic ethics in favor of malicious propaganda, Fox continues to play a major role in the further erosion of the bedrock principles of informed representative government," the suit states. "Setting the record straight and confronting Fox's dishonest practices are critical to protecting democracy from being overrun by disinformation and lies." Newsom, a potential presidential candidate, said he decided to sue in part because Fox failed to change after admitting in a legal settlement two years ago to spreading falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election. In response to Newsom's lawsuit, Fox criticized the California governor, accusing him of undercutting the 1st Amendment. "Gov. Newsom's transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed,' Fox News said in a statement Friday morning. The case stems from comments Trump made about a phone call with Newsom as tensions heated up between the two leaders over immigration raids and the president's decision to deploy the National Guard to the streets of Los Angeles. Trump told reporters on June 10 that he spoke with Newsom 'a day ago.' 'Called him up to tell him, got to do a better job, he's doing a bad job,' Trump said. 'Causing a lot of death and a lot of potential death.' Newsom immediately rejected Trump's timeline on social media. The governor had already spoken publicly about talking to Trump on the phone late in the night on June 6 in California, which was early June 7 for Trump on the East Coast. Newsom said the National Guard was never discussed during that call. They didn't talk again, he said. 'There was no call,' Newsom posted on X. 'Not even a voicemail. Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn't even know who he's talking to.' Newsom's lawyers allege in the complaint that by making the call seem more recent, Trump could suggest they discussed the deployment of troops to Los Angeles, which they had not. Read more: L.A. immigration raids force the undocumented to trade their freedom for safety Trump attempted to fire back at Newsom through Fox and shared a screenshot of his call log with anchor John Roberts. The log showed that a phone call occurred on June 7 and provided no evidence of a call on June 9 as Trump claimed. "It is impossible to know for certain whether President Trump's distortion was intentionally deceptive or merely a result of his poor cognitive state, but Fox's decision to cover up for the President's false statement cannot be so easily dismissed," the complaint states. Newsom's legal team said Roberts initially misrepresented the situation to viewers "to obscure President Trump's false statement of fact." Then during an evening broadcast on June 10, Fox News host Jesse Watters showed a video of Trump's comments about the phone call but omitted the president saying that it happened 'a day ago.' The edit made it appear that Newsom alleged the two never spoke at all. 'Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him? Why would he do that?' Watters then asked. A banner at the bottom of the screen during the segment claimed "Gavin lied about Trump's call." Newsom's lawyers said Fox "willfully distorted the facts" and defamed Newsom to tens of millions of people. "Fox advanced this lie about Governor Newsom out of a desire to harm him politically," the complaint states. Newsom is particularly attuned to his critics on Fox, a conservative-leaning television network that he describes as the epicenter of a right-wing media ecosystem that misleads the public to benefit Trump and his allies. Similar to reports of Trump watching CNN, the governor regularly follows Fox political coverage. He pays close attention to the outlet's assessment of his leadership. Fox commentators and opinion hosts, such as Watters, are given a wide berth to express their views, even when they contradict the reporting of its nonpartisan correspondents. They aggressively defend Trump and his policies, while often casting California as a failed state with incompetent leadership. But Newsom has also benefited from Fox and used his appearances on the network to brandish his image as a brawler for Democrats and his standing as a potential future presidential candidate. Fox hosted a much talked about debate between Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023. The California governor also participated in a sit-down interview with Sean Hannity, which drew praise from within and outside of his party. Read more: 'You gonna let him die?' Agents pile on protester, who convulses and struggles to breathe During a talk on the social media website Substack on Friday, Newsom said he started going on Fox to disrupt propaganda and the network's narrative about Democrats. "I have a high threshold for the bulls— on Fox, is the point," Newsom said. "I wouldn't do this unless I felt they really did cross the line." The amount of the governor's request for damages was a subtle dig at the outlet. Fox agreed two years ago to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to drop a lawsuit related to the network's false claims that voting machines were manipulated to help President Biden win the 2020 election. The news organization settled the case rather than put its executives and on-air talent on the witness stand in a high-profile trial. Fox faces a similar lawsuit from Smartmatic, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based voting machine company that claims its business had been hurt because of the network's reporting. The news outlet has maintained that reporting on Trump's fraud claims was newsworthy and protected by the 1st Amendment. Barring a settlement, the case could go to trial next year. In a letter to Fox, Newsom's lawyers said they will voluntarily dismiss the governor's suit if the outlet retracts its claims that he lied about speaking to Trump. 'We expect that you will give the same airtime in retracting these falsehoods as you spent presenting and amplifying them,' his lawyers stated. 'Further, Mr. Watters and Fox News must issue a formal on-air apology for the lie you have spread about Governor Newsom.' The governor said any damages he might receive from the lawsuit, punitive or otherwise, would go to charity. Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Forbes
This Is Why Gavin Newsom Is Suing Fox News For $787 Million And An Apology
MONTEREY PARK, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 26: California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks at East Los Angeles ... More College on February 26, 2025 (Photo by) Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he is suing Fox News for $787 million and an apology. This is why he is doing it. Newsom, the governor of California, declared 'no more lies' in a tweet on Friday when he announced he is suing Fox News. He later said, 'bring it on' in reference to the lawsuit while posting this image from the court filing showing himself (in his personal capacity) as the plaintiff and Fox News as the defendant. Gavin Newsom posted this image with words, "Bring it on." Background: Newsom, Trump and Fox News. The core of the case is that Newsom says Donald Trump lied about the date the two of them had a phone conversation. Then, according to Newsom, Fox news repeatedly accused him of lying in an effort to bolster Trump's version of events. Gavin Newsom says that things got so bad with Fox News accusing him of lying about the call that he started getting phone calls from friends asking him why he was lying about the Trump call. Newsom says that he never lied about the call. He accuses Trump of lying and is now suing Fox News for elevating this lie on its network and for defaming him in the process. This is Why Gavin Newsom filed suit against Fox News. Gavin Newsom conducted a round of interviews Friday where he detailed the events that led to him suing Fox News. Here are highlights from two such interviews. During an interview with Terry Moran, Newsom said that, 'you can't maliciously slander someone—you can't defame someone—by altering facts, editing facts, knowingly doing that without being held to some higher level of ethics and accountability.' Newsom referenced the Dominion lawsuit and opined that while Fox had settled the case, the company failed to fundamentally change its practices. More than two years ago, Fox News and Fox Corp. agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a groundbreaking defamation lawsuit. Dominion Voting Systems asserted that Fox had pushed lies and conspiracies and accused its company of rigging voting machines to hurt Trump during the 2020 election. The settlement was made after the jury had been selected and mere hours before the actual trial was set to begin. Gavin Newsom went on to tell Moran that he had been on the receiving end of Fox for 'years and years' and that he did not do this (file the lawsuit) lightly. During the interview, Newsom said, "I got a bunch of calls. Terry this is actually why this happened." He went on to share that he had received a bunch of calls from friends asking him, 'why did you lie about the Trump call?" This was when Newsom said it had become clear to him that lies against him were breaking through even beyond the Fox audience and causing real damage. Though he said he had known the network to lie, this time was different according to Newsom. This time Fox News had clearly 'crossed a red line.' During an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, Gavin Newsom shared that he is suing Fox News in his personal capacity and proceeded to detail his reason for taking legal action. Newsom tells Cohen the following, Newsom said the Fox News Chyron said 'Gavin lied...' Newsom said Fox News put up a chyron that said, 'Gavin lied about Trump—the call.' During his interview with Terry Moran, Newsom said, Newsom describes Fox as purporting to be a news organization with journalist when, in his opinion, it's a propaganda network instead. Ultimately, Gavin Newsom says that he filed the lawsuit against Fox News because two of its anchors (Jesse Watters and John Roberts) defamed him, and this defamation has caused him harm that compels him to defend himself. Governor Newsom Accuses Fox News of Defamation: What Does it Mean? PBS, a non-profit media enterprise in the United States, defines defamation as, 'any false information that harms the reputation of a person, business, or organization. Defamation includes both libel and slander. Libel generally refers to defamatory statements that are published or broadcast (more permanent) while slander refers to verbal defamatory statements (more fleeting).' The organization informs that defamation allegations can present legal challenges for media organizations. Reputation and Leadership Implications for Gavin Newsom Gavin Newsom is pushing for the network to be held accountable for what he describes as unethical and unprofessional behavior that causes harm to him and others. It's apparent from the Newsom interviews that he is frustrated with having his integrity—and hence his leadership principles—put to question in this manner. As a result, Newsom says he is compelled to push back strongly against Fox News to ultimately defend his integrity and buttress his leadership values. Finally, Newsom makes clear that he wants Fox News to recant and apologize for what he deems defamatory behavior. He also wants the organization to recognize that it must hold its employees and anchors to higher ethical and professional standards going forward. Recommended reading: This Is How To Be An Effective Decision Maker: A Leadership Imperative 10 Things Too Risky To Delegate: Tasks Executives Should Handle Themselves Evaluate Your Career Legacy Impact With These 3 Categories Of Questions This Is Why Shepard Smith Ended His Career With Fox News
RNZ News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
California Governor sues Fox News for $1.3 billion for defamation over Trump call
By Jonathan Stempel , Reuters California Governor Gavin Newsom. Photo: AFP California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a US$787 million (NZ$1.3 billion) defamation lawsuit against Fox News, saying the network defamed him by lying about his phone call with Donald Trump related to the president's immigration crackdown. The complaint filed in Delaware Superior Court accused Fox of demonstrating "willingness to protect President Trump from his own false statements by smearing his political opponent Governor Newsom in a dispute over when the two last spoke during a period of national strife." Newsom's punitive damages request is nearly identical to the $787.5 million that Fox paid in 2023 to settle Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit over alleged vote-rigging in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The governor is also seeking compensatory damages for harm to his reputation, saying Fox acted with actual malice. "Enough of their lies," Newsom said in a video posted on X. In a letter to the network, Newsom's lawyers said he is prepared to drop the lawsuit if Fox retracted the claim he lied about his call with Trump, and if both Fox and host Jesse Watters apologized on-air. Fox said in a statement: "Governor Newsom's transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed." Newsom is a Democrat and potential presidential contender in 2028, and has made several appearances on Fox News. The network is a favorite of conservatives, and its on-air talent includes many supporters of Trump, a Republican. Its parent, Fox Corp, is incorporated in Delaware. According to the complaint, Newsom spoke by phone with Trump for about 16 minutes late on 6 June, or early 7 June Eastern Daylight Time, soon after protests broke out in Los Angeles following federal immigration raids. Trump later sent National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the state, bypassing the governor. Newsom said he did not speak again with Trump, and confirmed this after Trump falsely told reporters on 10 June he had spoken with the governor "a day ago." The complaint said Fox nonetheless intentionally distorted the facts by making a misleading video clip and multiple false statements about the timing of the last call, in an effort to brand Newsom a liar and curry favor with Trump. "Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?" Watters said on 10 June on his show "Jesse Watters Primetime," according to the complaint. Watters' report was accompanied by a chyron, a banner caption along the bottom of a TV screen, that said "Gavin Lied About Trump's Call," the complaint added. According to the complaint, Fox's claim that Newsom lied was "calculated to provoke outrage and cause Governor Newsom significant harm," by making people less likely to support his causes, donate to his campaigns, or vote for him in elections. Newsom's lawyers said it was "perhaps unsurprising" that the 79-year-old Trump might confuse the dates, but Fox's decision to cover up the error "cannot be so easily dismissed." To prevail in the lawsuit, Newsom would have to show Fox acted with actual malice, meaning it knew its statements were false or had reckless disregard for their truth. The standard comes from New York Times v. Sullivan, a landmark 1964 US Supreme Court decision. Trump has also turned to the courts to address perceived defamation by news networks. He reached a US$15 million (NZ$25 million) settlement with Walt Disney-owned ABC last December after suing over an inaccurate claim that a jury found him liable for rape, rather than sexual assault, in a civil lawsuit. Trump also sued CBS for US$20 billion (NZ$33 billion) over its editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. A mediator has reportedly proposed a US$20 million (NZ$33 million) settlement with CBS' parent Paramount Global. - Reuters
Al Jazeera
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
California Governor Newsom sues Fox News for $787m over alleged defamation
California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed a $787m defamation lawsuit against Fox News, accusing the network of misrepresenting a phone call between him and US President Donald Trump earlier this month amid immigration arrests and the subsequent protests in Los Angeles. The complaint was filed on Friday in Delaware Superior Court, the state in which Fox Corp is incorporated. Newsom spoke by phone with Trump late on June 6 – early June 7 on the East Coast, soon after protests broke out in Los Angeles following federal immigration raids. Less than 24 hours later, the president sent National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the state, bypassing the governor's office. In an interview with NBC News on June 8, Newsom said that he had a civil conversation with the president, but he never brought up sending the National Guard. 'I tried to talk about LA, he wanted to talk about all these other issues,' Newsom said. 'He never once brought up the National Guard,' he added. Newsom said he did not speak with Trump again, and confirmed this after Trump falsely told reporters on June 10 that he had spoken with the governor 'a day ago'. The suit alleged that the network had a 'willingness to protect President Trump from his own false statements by smearing his political opponent Governor Newsom in a dispute over when the two last spoke during a period of national strife'. The complaint said Fox nonetheless made a misleading video clip and multiple false statements about the timing of the last call, acting with actual malice in an effort to brand Newsom a liar and curry favour with Trump. 'Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?' Watters said on June 10 on his show, Jesse Watters Primetime, according to the complaint. Watters's report was accompanied by a chyron, a banner caption along the bottom of a TV screen, that said 'Gavin Lied About Trump's Call,' the complaint added. According to the complaint, Fox's claim that Newsom lied was 'calculated to provoke outrage and cause Governor Newsom significant harm' by making people less likely to support his causes, donate to his campaigns, or vote for him in elections. 'Gov. Newsom's transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed,' a spokesperson for Fox News told Al Jazeera in an email. In a follow-up, Al Jazeera asked Fox if Watters and his production team fact-checked claims about the phone call before speaking about it – which is industry standard – but the network did not provide clarification. Newsom's punitive damages request is nearly identical to the $787.5m that Fox paid in 2023 to settle Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit over alleged vote-rigging in the 2020 US presidential election. To prevail in his lawsuit, Newsom would have to show Fox acted with actual malice, meaning it knew its statements were false or had reckless disregard for their truth. According to the New York Times, Newsom would drop the lawsuit if Fox issued a retraction and host Jesse Watters apologised on-air for saying the governor lied about his call with Trump. The governor's office told Al Jazeera that it would not comment because Newsom is pursuing the lawsuit in a personal capacity and not through the office. In an emailed statement, Newsom said, 'If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump's behalf, it should face consequences – just like it did in the Dominion case. I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet. Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine.' Out of Trump's playbook Newsom's lawsuit comes as Trump has gone after news organisations that have been critical of him. He reached a $15m settlement with ABC News after the network made in an inaccurate claim that a jury found Trump liable for rape in the civil case involving E Jean Carroll, rather than sexual assault. The White House also recently went after the network when former White House correspondent Terry Moran called White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller a 'world-class hater'. Moran was later suspended and subsequently dismissed from the network. Trump also sued CBS News for $20bn for the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, which was reportedly mediated into a settlement agreement of $20m with parent company Paramount Global, causing concern in the news division. Paramount has a pending merger with Skydance. Trump has also slashed funding for public media, which the White House alleged was 'radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news''.
