Businessman Kevin O’Leary and Fox News are now reportedly facing a lawsuit from a coalition opposing data center construction in Utah, with the plaintiffs alleging they were falsely accused on air of having ties to China.
The lawsuit was filed by Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson, Taylor Knuth, and Josh Kanter. According to the complaint, O’Leary used appearances on Fox News to launch what the plaintiffs describe as a campaign of false accusations regarding their funding and alleged connections to Chinese interests.
The complaint claims Fox News repeatedly gave O’Leary a platform despite what the plaintiffs argue were unsupported allegations.
“Fox was instrumental in O’Leary’s defamatory smear campaign, putting him on air to attack Plaintiffs five times in three weeks,” the lawsuit states. It further alleges that despite O’Leary’s “inherently unreliable claims” and what it describes as his lack of supporting evidence, the network continued inviting him onto its programs and allowed him to broadcast the accusations to millions of viewers without qualification.
The legal action follows steps Fox News took last month to distance itself from O’Leary’s remarks. The network publicly apologized for comments made by O’Leary during its broadcasts and stated that it had found no evidence supporting his claims.
In its statement, Fox News said it was “aware of no evidence that they are funded by, or acting in the direction of, or in coordination with Chinese interests in opposing Mr. O’Leary’s project.”
The network also emphasized that it had issued corrections regarding the remarks across every program on which the comments had aired.
“Fox News Media publicly corrected the record on every program where on-air guest Kevin O’Leary’s comments were made, all of which was extensively publicized,” the network said in a statement provided to The Hill on Thursday. Fox also indicated it intends to challenge the lawsuit in court, adding, “We will vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”
The controversy stems from comments O’Leary made during a May appearance on “Mornings with Maria.” During that interview, O’Leary discussed China, describing the country as an “adversary” that wants “us to stop building our electrical grid.”
The lawsuit contends that O’Leary’s comments falsely linked the Utah groups and individuals to Chinese interests.
Although O’Leary later addressed the controversy publicly, he did not issue an apology for his original remarks. Instead, he released a statement on social media intended to clarify his position.
“I would like to clarify that I have no evidence that Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson, Taylor Knuth or Josh Kanter are funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party,” O’Leary wrote.
The lawsuit now places both the television personality and Fox News at the center of a legal dispute over the accuracy of those on-air statements, with the plaintiffs arguing they were falsely portrayed as having foreign backing and the network maintaining it corrected the record and will defend itself against the claims.
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