"This is what often happens. Once a jury is seated, it puts tremendous pressure on the parties involved to actually reach a settlement," Vanity Fair special correspondent Brian Stelter tells Inside Edition.
The country was gearing up for the defamation trial of the century, as Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingram, Sean Hannity and a host of other big names in Fox News prepared to defend broadcasting the crackpot conspiracy theories of voter fraud against Dominion Voting Systems, when a surprise settlement of $787.5 million brought the trial to an abrupt end just hours after a jury was selected.
“This is what so often happens,” Vanity Fair special correspondent Brian Stelter tells Inside Edition. “Once a jury is seated, it puts tremendous pressure on the parties involved to actually reach a settlement.”
Opening statements were set to begin when the announcement was made that a settlement was reached, with long lines and armies of attorneys for both sides arriving to the Delaware courthouse earlier that day.
A covered walkway had been prepared outside the back entrance of the courthouse to shield Fox News anchors from cameras when they would be called to testify.
Dominion Voting Systems was suing Fox News for “knowingly spreading lies” about its voting machines after the 2020 elections, and implored Fox to stop by sending more than 3,700 denials and corrections, but the lies continued, they said.
“This case has been going on for two years and Dominion was reluctant to settle,” Stelter said. “In part because they wanted to hold out for on-air televised apologies from Fox personalities”
Fox News issued a statement following the settlement: “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”
Stelter says, however, this will not be the last we hear of the lies and lawsuit surrounding the 2020 election. “It’s very likely we’ll be hearing from some people on Fox say sorry,” he said.
