Fox News Won A Court Case By 'Persuasively' Arguing That No 'Reasonable Viewer' Takes Tucker Carlson Seriously
Sonam Sheth, Business Insider, September 24, 2020
A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News after lawyers for the network argued that no "reasonable viewer" would take the network's primetime star Tucker Carlson seriously.The former Playboy model Karen McDougal filed a defamation suit against Fox alleging that Carlson slandered her during a December 2018 episode of his show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight." . . .The judge agreed with Fox's premise, adding that the network "persuasively argues" that "given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statements he makes." ...The case was brought by the former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said Carlson defamed her on his show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," by saying she extorted President Donald Trump "out of approximately $150,000 in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair," the filing said.
The problem is "reasonable viewers" don't watch Fox News [sic] or Tucker Carlson.
In June, Fox News attorney Erin Murphy asked U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil during a hearing:
Would a reasonable viewer be coming here and thinking this is where I'm going to be hearing the news of the day? . . . It's not the front page of the New York Times. It's Tucker Carlson Tonight.
This is a monologue delivered by a man whose own employer successfully argued in court that he's so obviously lying that he can't be sued for defamation because everyone knows he's just making stuff up. https://t.co/6otz5MQOYF
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 25, 2020
The network should be required to run that defense motion as a disclaimer in a constant stream chyron below him talking
— Andrew J. Flowerday (@ajflowerday) September 25, 2020
yes and no. the law protects things that cannot reasonably be construed as fact. FOX successfully argued nothing he says can be reasonably construed as factual so legally he can’t be sued
— Tatum (@mynameistatum) September 25, 2020
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