Rupert Murdoch to Be Deposed in Smartmatic Defamation Suit

Rupert Murdoch is scheduled to be questioned in voting software firm Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News over the right-wing network’s airing of debunked 2020 election conspiracy theories. Reuters reported that the deposition of the 92-year-old media mogul will take place in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Earlier this month, Murdoch officially stepped down as chairman of Fox Corp., the parent company of Fox News, handing the reins over to his son Lachlan and taking on the role of chairman emeritus. Back in April, Fox paid Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle similar defamatory claims that Fox News knowingly peddled election lies to boost sagging ratings after Donald Trump’s 2020 loss. While Murdoch is not named as a defendant by Smartmatic, the company is likely looking to establish that the Fox News founder was heavily involved in the network’s programming decisions. In his deposition and documents made public in the Dominion case, Murdoch said he believed the election was fair and criticized Trump’s false “rigged” election claims, but chose not to prevent those falsehoods from airing. A representative for Fox Corp. declined to comment, and Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.