Fox News called for the presiding judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who alleges she had an affair with President Trump.
Erin Murphy, a lawyer for the network, urged U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil to drop McDougal’s lawsuit in a telephone hearing on Wednesday. The suit alleges that Fox News host Tucker Carlson defamed her on his show on Dec. 10, 2018, according to Bloomberg.
“There’s no statement that a reasonable viewer would understand in this context to state something provably false,” Murphy said, while also calling Carlson’s rhetoric “hyperbolic,” yet noting he was expressing an opinion protected by the First Amendment.
Eric Bernstein, who is representing McDougal, argued that Carlson’s comments were made in an “absolute, journalistic way” and alleged that he was “trying to destroy the character and reputation of Karen McDougal” as a way to help Trump.
Carlson accused the former model of extortion and claimed, in part, that she “approached Donald Trump and threatened to ruin his career and humiliate his family if he doesn’t give them money.” He also classified her behavior as “a classic case of extortion,” however, he did not mention her by name during the show, only showing a photo of her.
“FOX News will vigorously defend Tucker Carlson against these meritless claims,” a Fox News representative told the Washington Examiner at the time the suit was filed in December.
McDougal has said that she and Trump met at the Playboy Mansion in 2006, and they began a 10-month affair that ultimately ended when she felt guilty about Trump cheating on his wife. The president has denied the affair.
Prior to the 2016 presidential election, the National Enquirer purchased the rights to McDougal’s story for $150,000 and proceeded not to publish it — a practice that’s commonly known as “catch and kill.” She was restricted from discussing the alleged affair until she came to a settlement agreement with American Media in April 2018.
