Attorneys representing Fox News are threatening legal action against the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America for airing leaked behind-the-scenes clips showing the network’s now-former host Tucker Carlson.
The letter from Fox attorneys is in response to a series of stories published in recent days by MMFA, the liberal pressure group founded by Democratic Party operative David Brock, under the headline “Foxleaks.”
The footage shows Carlson, the highly rated primetime cable host who was dismissed by Fox News on April 24, during commercial breaks making comments denigrating the network.
MMFA’s most recent installment of “Foxleaks” shows Carlson having makeup applied by a Fox News staffer, who is asked by the host if “pillow fights ever break out” in the women’s bathroom.
“That unaired footage is Fox’s confidential intellectual property,” attorneys for Fox News’ parent company, Fox Corp., wrote in their letter to Angelo Carusone, the head of MMFA.
“Fox did not consent to its distribution or publication … [and] does not consent to its further distribution or publication,” the attorneys wrote.
“This proprietary material was given to you without Fox’s authorization,” the letter went on to state.
“Fox demands that Media Matters cease and desist from distribution, publication, and misuse of Fox’s misappropriated proprietary footage, which you are now on notice was unlawfully obtained,” the attorneys wrote to Carusone.
“We reserve all rights and remedies.”
When reached by The Post, MMFA responded in a statement that “reporting on newsworthy leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism.”
The Post’s corporate parent, News Corp., is a sister company to Fox Corp.
Fox News’ lawyers have also asked the Delaware judge who presided over Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against the network to reject a request by media organizations to unseal records from the case, which has been settled.
Earlier this week, a group of media companies which includes the New York Times, National Public Radio and the Associated Press asked Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis to reveal mostly private text messages and conversations between Fox employees shortly after the 2020 presidential election that were uncovered during the lawsuit.
Fox lawyer Katharine L. Mowery wrote in the letter that much of the material its competitors sought wasn’t relevant to the issues of the lawsuit.
She said the media has no right to access such records.
During the discovery phase of the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion, text messages and emails revealed that Fox hosts and executives were skeptical of then-President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud and rigged voting machines.
Another batch of messages revealed Carlson’s scorn for Trump, including one text in which he declared, “I hate him passionately.”
“They have not been shy about sharing the communications with the most potential to grab headlines,” Mowery wrote of the media challenging the sealed documents.
One of the reasons Fox agreed to settle the case was to “buy peace and bring an end to the media spectacle,” she wrote.
The news organizations said the documents, most of which Fox said it redacted because they contained proprietary information about the company, were still relevant.
Fox agreed last month to pay $787 million to end the case.
Dominion had accused the network of repeatedly airing bogus claims that its voting equipment rigged the 2020 election against Trump, despite knowing those claims were false.
“We’re disappointed that Fox continues to oppose the public’s right to know what happened in an important judicial proceeding,” the Times said in a statement. “The best interests of the public and journalism are served by judicial transparency, not secrecy.”
With Post wires
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