Media baron Rupert Murdoch has reportedly called off his latest engagement to Ann Lesley Smith just weeks after they announced their betrothal, according to reports.
Sources close to the 92-year-old Fox Corporation chairman told Vanity Fair that his engagement to the 66-year-old former dental hygienist turned conservative radio host has been abruptly called off.
One source close to Murdoch said he had become increasingly uncomfortable with Smith’s outspoken evangelical views.
A spokesperson for Rupert Murdoch declined to comment to Vanity Fair.
Murdoch, who is the head of a global media empire, told his own tabloid newspaper, the New York Post in March: “I was very nervous.
“I dreaded falling in love, but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy. We’re both looking forward to spending the second half of our lives together.”
The pair were set to marry in the summer. The nuptials would have marked the fifth time that the media titan has wed.
Murdoch, whose business empire includes the controversial US network Fox News and The Sun newspaper in the UK has six children from his first three marriages.
Prudence MacLeod, with his first wife Patricia Booker and daughter Elisabeth and sons Lachlan and James with his second wife Anna Mann.
His two youngest children, Grace and Chloe, are with his third wife Wendi Deng.
Smith had told the New York Post: “I’m a widow of 14 years. Like Rupert, my husband was a businessman.
“Worked for local papers, developed radio and TV stations and helped promote Univision. So I speak Rupert’s language. We share the same beliefs.”
