Newsmax has agreed to pay Smartmatic $40 million as part of a settlement reached last year following a defamation lawsuit. The settlement included a cash payment and an option to purchase stock in Newsmax. Details of the payments were not publicly available last year, but the media company has stated that payments totaling $20 million have already been made, with the rest to be paid before July.
The lawsuit centered on Newsmax’s false claims that Smartmatic’s machines manipulated the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. After the settlement, Newsmax acknowledged that the court found these allegations to be factually false. Smartmatic has also settled a similar defamation lawsuit with One America News, with details of the settlement not disclosed publicly.
Smartmatic is now focused on a similar case against Fox News, with their external lawyer stating that they look forward to presenting evidence to a jury. Fox News, on the other hand, has said they covered newsworthy events and people surrounding the 2020 election. Fox Corp., the parent company of Fox News, previously reached a settlement in 2023 to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle defamation claims.
The settlement with Smartmatic will potentially eliminate future legal expenses for Newsmax related to this lawsuit. Newsmax did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the settlement.
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