Fox News on Tuesday settled a lawsuit over its promotion of unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2016 murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich.
Rich’s parents sued Fox in 2018 for emotional distress over a discredited and ultimately retracted article on the network’s website and on-air segments featuring hosts like Sean Hannity that claimed that Rich’s unsolved 2016 murder had a connection to the hack of Democratic emails disclosed by WikiLeaks, even as D.C. police continue to believe Rich’s death was the result of a botched robbery.
As of September, Fox stars like Hannity and Fox Business host Lou Dobbs were scheduled to be deposed in the case, but the settlement means those depositions won’t be made public. The terms of Fox’s settlement with Rich’s parents—while not fully disclosed—was reported by Yahoo to be worth seven figures.
“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,” the Rich family said in a statement. In a separate statement, Fox News said the network is “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.”
