Fox News Agrees To Pay Former Producer Abby Grossberg $12 Million To Settle Lawsuits

Fox News has agreed to pay more than $12 million to former company producer Abby Grossberg. Grossberg accused the network of perpetuating a discriminatory workplace environment and coercing her into providing false testimony in a deposition and brought claims against anchor Tucker Carlson.

Grossberg began working at the company in 2019. In 2022, she started working on Carlson’s team as his head of booking.

In March, Grossberg filed a lawsuit in Delaware that stated that Fox pressured her to lie under oath during a defamation case brought about by Dominion Voting Systems. Grossberg also filed a separate lawsuit in New York that accused Fox News and Carlson of allowing workplace misogyny and sexual harassment to fall under the radar.

Upon filing her lawsuits, Grossberg leaked audio recordings from Fox to other media outlets. The audio was packed with information about Carlson’s influence on the Republican party and even featured an admission from Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer to Donald Trump, that he did not have any evidence of voter fraud in 2020.

Fox fired Grossberg just four days after she filed both lawsuits.

The settlement agreement that was reached by both parties encompasses both of Grossberg’s claims against Fox News. In a statement put on Friday, she expressed her hope for the future of the network.

“I am hopeful, based on our discussions with Fox News today,” Grossberg wrote, “that this resolution represents a positive step by the network regarding its treatment of women and minorities in the workplace.”

This is not the first legal battle that Fox News has found itself in recently. In April, the network had to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems for spewing false information about the 2020 election. This settlement is believed to be the biggest in the history of defamation cases.

Fox is also facing a second defamation case by another voting technology company called Smartmatic, which has made similar claims against the organization.

Grossberg is now playing a part in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as all of her devices are being scanned for any additional recordings that may serve as evidence in Smith’s case.

Article by Ava Lombardi