According to Politico, two non-profit organizations in Utah and their founder sued Fox News and the well-known investor Kevin O’Leary on Wednesday. They alleged that O’Leary repeatedly claimed on the TV station that they were acting on behalf of China, which constituted defamation against them.
This lawsuit stems from statements made by O’Leary in May this year regarding his plans to build a data center covering 40,000 acres in Utah, which faced opposition. According to the indictment, O’Leary accused the plaintiff of being a “agent of China”.
At that time, O'Leary falsely claimed that China “supported” protest activities in the United States against data centers.
The plaintiffs are Joshua Kanter, the founder of “Alliance for a Better Utah”, and Gabrielle Finlayson, the founder of “Elevate Strategies”.
According to the indictment, this ‘Shark Tank’ star repeated similar accusations in at least 10 different episodes, claiming to have evidence gathered by data scientists. The lawsuit states that even though the plaintiff publicly denied these claims, Fox News continued to invite O’Leary to the show, and the host of the show agreed or supported his statements.
The indictment states that O’Leary withdrew his statements after receiving a lawyer’s letter, and Fox News also apologized. However, the plaintiff believes that they have suffered damage in terms of reputation, economy, and spirit.
Fox News Media Corporation stated that for all episodes in which O’Leary made certain remarks, the company “publicly corrected the factual records, and these corrections were widely reported.” The company also added that it “will actively respond to this lawsuit.” In 2023, Fox News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for a record sum of $187.75 million in a defamation lawsuit.
At the time this lawsuit was filed, data center projects across the United States were facing growing opposition from local residents. The controversies included their environmental impact, power consumption, and water usage.
O'Leary's proposed "Stratos Project" also involves another lawsuit in the Utah court. This lawsuit was filed by the "Build Better Utah Alliance" and several individual plaintiffs, alleging that the project's approval process violated the rights of local residents.
