Lachlan Murdoch has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Australian news website Crikey, his lawyer confirmed in a statement Thursday.
Why it matters: The News Corp co-chair dropped the lawsuit days after Fox News settled a historic defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for a record $787 million.
Flashback: Murdoch sued Crikey for defamation last August in response to an article published by Crikey alleging Murdoch and Fox News were partially responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Details: Murdoch's lawyer John Churchill confirmed in a statement on Friday morning local time that he had filed a notice of discontinuance in the defamation proceedings against Private Media, publisher of Crikey.
- "Mr Murdoch remains confident that the court would ultimately find in his favour, however, he does not wish to further enable Crikey’s use of the court to litigate a case from another jurisdiction that has already been settled and facilitate a marketing campaign designed to attract subscribers and boost their profits," Churchill said.
What they're saying: Marque Lawyers, which was representing Private Media in the case, tweeted: "Lachlan Murdoch has discontinued his defamation case against Crikey. He’ll be up for Crikey’s legal costs. We and our client are well pleased."
- Representatives for Crikey did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
