John Oliver brings Fox News Channel to the mat during Sunday night season premiere Last Week Tonight.
on top of his HBO talk show, which has been on since November On hiatus, Oliver filed court documents made public last week in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, Involved in election fraud allegations.
Dominion Voting Systems , which sells electronic voting hardware and software, is suing Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation , alleging that some Fox News employees deliberately amplified false claims that Dominion changed votes in the 16 election and that Fox provided a platform for guests to make false and defamatory statements.
Fox News host expressed serious concern over allegations of voter fraud in 4156580 presidential election by former President Donald Trump, court documents say Hosted by a guest of Trump’s allies.
“Sidney Powell is lying,” Tucker Carlson told a producer about the lawyer in November about mastering Evidence of election fraud. , , according to an excerpt from the exhibit, is still sealed. Carlson also called Powell an “unguided missile” and “very dangerous” in an article. Meanwhile, Laura Ingraham told Carlson that Powell was “a total nut. No one would work with her. Ditto Rudy,” referring to the former New York mayor and Trump supporter Rudy. Di Giuliani. “The whole narrative that Sidney is pushing, I don’t believe for a second,” Sean Hannity said in an affidavit, according to Dominion documents.
Oliver started his Last Week Tonight segment by joking that Fox News’ “name is a lie because it’s both No news, and indeed no fox.”
Oliver showed CNN’s coverage of hosts including Ingraham, noting that “disturbing irregularities have been identified , has to do the fullest investigation.”
Oliver said, “Wow, if I were a Fox viewer, I’d feel betrayed. It’s like finding out that Big Bird often Texted Elmo, ‘fuck their kids,’ and Elmo said yes.”
Returning to Fox News hosts, Oliver pointed to court documents showing that “Fox News hosts don’t believe The level of shit they sell, it’s totally fine if you work for QVC, you have to spend an hour explaining why a jeweled squatting toilet will save your life, but it’s more worrying when you pretend to be news.”
Oliver also pointed to claims in court documents in which Fox News anchors were accused of fearing viewers would be lost to right-wing channels like Newsmax, and that Hannity and producers There was internal communication noting that their “best time” was about “voting irregularities”. ) Last Week Tonight The team is also under pressure to get people to tune in. What is the difference? “We do it the old-fashioned way, with integrity and self-respect and blind luck, by airing hit shows that people actually want to watch as soon as they air. It’s not that hard,” he quipped, as HBO Game of Thrones, Succession and The Last of Us title cards are shown on the screen— All shows aired last week and tonight or later.
“Multiple Fox hosts seem to see telling the truth as a potential existential threat,” Oliver said. He then showed a clip from CNN reporting that Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich had fact-checked Trump’s tweet about the ballot being destroyed, after which Carlson texted colleagues: “Please fire her. Seriously.” The…what the fuck?…It’s clearly hurting the company. The stock price is down.”
Oliver said: “As shocking as it is, it Indeed tracking, as Fox News’ list of combustible violations appears to be ‘making stock ‘price drop’ or ‘has been a sex monster for decades (but only if someone outside the company finds it out)’”
In a countersuit, lawyers for Fox News argued that the lawsuit was an attack on the First Amendment. They say Dominion has come up with “novel defamation theories” and is seeking a “spectacular” damage figure aimed at creating headlines, chilling protected speech and getting Dominion’s private equity owner Staple Street Capital Partners get rich and get rich.
Fox’s attorneys also said in their own summary judgment summary that Carlson repeatedly challenged Powell’s claims on his broadcast. They also wrote that when voting technology companies denied allegations made by Trump and his surrogates, Fox News aired those denials, while some Fox News hosts made protected opinion comments on Trump’s allegations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
