Fox News won a court case by ‘persuasively’ arguing that no ‘reasonable viewer’ takes Tucker Carlson seriously

• A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News this week 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 network asked a judge to dismiss the case by arguing that “Carlson’s statements were not statements of fact and that she failed adequately to allege actual malice.”
• 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.”
• Carlson has a long history of making racist and controversial statements during his tenure as a primetime host on Fox News and has lost several advertisers because of it.
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A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News this week after lawyers for the network argued that no “reasonable viewer” takes the primetime host Tucker Carlson seriously, according to a new court filing.

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” between them.

The Fox News Network in turn asked a federal judge to toss out McDougal’s case by arguing that “Carlson’s statements were not statements of fact and that she failed adequately to allege actual malice.”

McDougal said two of Carlson’s statements during a December 10, 2018 episode of his show were defamatory, according to Thursday’s ruling by US District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil:

• Carlson’s claim that McDougal “approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family if he doesn’t give them money.”
• Carlson’s claim that McDougal’s actions amounted to “‘a classic case of extortion,’ which is a crime.”

Fox News countered McDougal’s allegations by arguing that Carlson “cannot be understood to have been stating facts, but instead that he was delivering an opinion using hyperbole for effect,” the ruling said. “Defendant submits that the use of that word or an accusation of extortion, absente more, is simply ‘loose, figurative, or hyperbolic language’ that does not give rise to a defamation claim.”

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.”

“This ‘general tenor’ of the show should then inform a viewer that he is not ‘stating actual facts’ about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in ‘exaggeration’ and ‘non-literal commentary,'” the ruling said.

McDougal made headlines in 2018 after it surfaced that Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, arranged for American Media Inc., the owner of the tabloid The National Enquirer, to pay her $150,000 to buy her story alleging that she had an affair with Trump in 2006. AMI never published McDougal’s story after purchasing it in order to shield Trump in the weeks before the 2016 election, a practice known as “catch and kill.”

Carlson, meanwhile, has made several racist and controversial statements during his tenure as one of Fox News’ biggest primetime stars.

Last year, after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which the suspect wrote a manifesto about a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” Carlson argued that white supremacy was a “hoax” and “not a real problem.”

In December 2018, Carlson claimed that immigrants would make the US “poorer and dirtier.” Nearly three dozen advertisers cut ties with Carlson’s show after his comments. Three months later, the host again found himself in hot water when tapes surfaced featuring him describing women as “primitive” and saying they “just need to be quiet,” comparing them to dogs, and defending the convicted pedophile Warren Jeffs.

Carlson refused to apologize for his resurfaced remarks and invited those who disagreed with him to appear on his show. In June, as nationwide protests erupted following the police killing of George Floyd, the host said the demonstrations were “definitely not about Black lives,” and warned viewers to “remember that when they come for you.”

Carlson saw another exodus of advertisers following his remarks about the protests.

“Karen McDougal’s lawsuit attempted to silence spirited opinion commentary on matters of public concern,” Fox News Media said in a statement after Thursday’s ruling. “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.”