/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f6ccd60eba6f84f989d231a/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=6720&cropY1=10&cropY2=3790&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "Judge Tosses Playboy Model Karen McDougal’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News")
Topline
A New York federal judge tossed out former Playboy model and President Trump hush money recipient Karen McDougal’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News—and specifically comments made by network host Tucker Carlson—because the judge ruled Carlson’s claims that McDougal extorted Trump were opinion, and not “statements of fact.”
Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Key Facts
According to a 19-page decision handed down Thursday in the Southern District of New York, Carlson engages in “rhetorical hyperbole and opinion commentary” on his Fox News show.
Carlson’s statements are intended to “frame political debate,” the judge wrote, and “as such, are not actionable as defamation.”
McDougal also failed to convince the judge that Carlson’s comments qualified as actual malice, a legal standard that is harder for public figures to prove—which the judge said McDougal qualifies as.
In order for a statement to be classified as actual malice, it must meet these standards: that it was defamatory, that the statement was made even though Carlson knew it was false, or that it was made with complete disregard to whether it was true or false.
“Given Mr. Carlson’s reputation, any reasonable viewer ‘arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism’ about the statements he makes,” the judge wrote.
“McDougal’s lawsuit attempted to silence spirited opinion commentary on matters of public concern,” Fox News said in a statement, adding, “The court today held that the First Amendment plainly prohibits such efforts to stifle free speech. The decision is a victory not just for FOX News Media, but for all defenders of the First Amendment.”
Crucial Quote
“This ‘general tenor’ of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not ‘stating actual facts’ about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in ‘exaggeration’ and ‘non-literal commentary,’” the judge wrote in the decision.
Key Background
McDougal sued Carlson for defamation in December 2019 for statements he made about her on an episode of his Fox News show taped in 2018. That episode focused on the hush-money payments that McDougal and adult film star Stormy Daniels received from Trump as part of a “catch and kill” scheme by the National Enquirer to keep their dalliances with the then-presidential candidate quiet. During the segment, Carlson said, “Two women [one of which was McDougal] approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family if he doesn’t give them money. Now that sounds like a classic case of extortion.” Those comments (among others) made up the substance of McDougal’s lawsuit.
Further Reading
Fox, NBC, CNN All Hit With High-Profile Lawsuits (Forbes)
Trump Suit Against New York Times ‘Completely Inappropriate,’ Media Law Expert Says (Forbes)
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