Rupert Murdoch prepares for Fox defamation lawsuit that could be crucial for his empire

Civil hearing centers on lies pushed by star anchors on his Fox News channel about ballot-counting machines used in elections Americans of 2020

The trial is due to begin jury selection this week (

Image: AFP via Getty Images

Rupert Murdoch today faces the opening of a £1.3billion libel lawsuit, touted as a possible deathblow to the tycoon's media empire.

The civil hearing centers on lies pushed by star anchors on his Fox News channel about ballot counting machines used in the 2020 U.S. election.

Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox for $1.6bn (£1.3bn), claiming the broadcaster damaged its reputation by repeatedly airing conspiracy theories that the machine company to vote helped orchestrate a fraud that cost former President Donald Trump his re-election.

Mr. Murdoch, 92, has previously given a deposition admitting that his stars endorsed a fake, stolen election statement.

Speaking under oath, he confirmed a Dominion lawyer's suggestion that Fox was "trying to straddle the line between spitting conspiracy theories on the one hand, while calling the fact that they are in fact wrong on the other hand".

Murdoch filed a deposition admitting that his stars endorsed Trump's fake, stolen election statement (

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The unsealed documents include excerpts from a deposition in which Mr. Murdoch was asked if he was aware that Fox commentators Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity sometimes endorsed the false election claims. He replied, “Yes. They approved."

On Tuesday, the Delaware judge handling the case said Fox had a 'credibility issue' after Dominion claimed he had been misled about Mr. Murdoch's exact role at the network .

Fox had previously told the court that he was not an officer of the company, but that was confirmed last week.

His lawyers have tried to isolate the Murdoch family members and prevent them from testifying live before a jury, arguing that their roles at parent company Fox Corp distanced them from Fox News broadcasts that spread the false allegations.

The disclosure came after Superior Court Judge Eric Davis asked who the Fox News officers were during a pre-trial meeting last week. After the revelation, he said, "My problem is that he was portrayed to me more than once...