Fox News reporter Abby Grossberg recently sued the network, alleging that the network’s attorneys “coerced, intimidated, and misinformed” her into giving false evidence as part of the $1.6 billion slander case brought by Dominion Voting System against the business. Grossberg allegedly sued Fox News in Delaware Superior Court and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. CNN received documents from the Delaware case that stated:
“Fox News Attorneys acted as agents and at the behest of Fox News to misleadingly coach, manipulate, and coerce Ms. Grossberg to deliver shaded and/or incomplete answers during her sworn deposition testimony, which answers clearly harmed her reputation but benefited Fox News greatly.”
The complaint also claimed that the Fox legal team’s “consistent efforts and actions” forced Grossberg to speak in a way that cast facts “in a false light.” According to the producer, the network intended to “shift culpability” away from top Fox News officials and “away from Fox Corporation.” In her complaint, Abby Grossberg also accused Fox News of sexism and chauvinism. She claimed that senior male execs frequently made disparaging comments about network presenters.
Grossberg allegedly joined Fox News in March 2019 as an editor and booker. She previously served as a senior scheduling editor for Maria Bartiromo before becoming Tucker Carlson’s director of booking. According to reports, Fox News reportedly compelled Grossberg to quit the network following her complaint against the network.
An examination of Abby Grossberg’s case against Fox News.
Abby Grossberg, a Fox news reporter, recently made headlines after launching a complaint against the network, charging its legal team of coercing and bullying her into providing false evidence in advance of her interview in the Dominion Voting Systems slander case against Fox last September. Dominion launched a $1.6 billion complaint against Fox Corporation and Fox News, alleging that the network “recklessly disregarded the truth” during the 2020 U.S. presidential election and promoted several pro-Trump conspiracy theories about election theft.
Dominion alleged in its complaint that Fox News defamed it by giving airtime to pro-Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. The business claimed that the lawyers promoted a bogus conspiracy theory and claimed that Dominion Voting Systems shifted Donald Trump’s ballots to Joe Biden, but Fox News presenters did not dispute the claims.
“The lies were good for Fox’s business,” Dominion asserted. However, the network firmly refuted the accusations and stated that it reported honestly on Trump’s assertions. The station also claimed that Dominion’s case violates free expression. Dominion’s lawyers questioned Abby Grossberg during her interview in the case about an email Powell sent to Maria Bartiromo. The attorneys also revealed phone texts about the 2020 election between Grossberg and Baritromo, in which the former reportedly wrote:
“To be honest, our audience is not interested in hearing about a peaceful transition.”
When the lawyers questioned Grossberg if she believed it was essential to clarify someone who was stating something false, she said “no.” Abby Grossberg now claims that Fox’s legal team supported her “misleading and evasive answers” during the disposition rather than suggesting that she say what she truly felt because doing so would allow Grossberg to “unwittingly” shift responsibility from higher executives of the network onto herself.
The producer also claimed that, unlike her male coworkers, she was not permitted to review and fix the recordings of her interview, and that she was only mentioned once in Dominion’s court papers. According to CNN, Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, recently requested to be dismissed as a participant in Dominion Voting Systems’ case, alleging that it has no influence over the channel’s coverage.
Abby Grossberg accused Fox News’ legal team of wrongdoing while prepping her for a pre-trial interview in Dominion’s slander case in her own complaint against the network. She also charged the network and some of its upper management with sexism and chauvinism. Grossberg claimed in her complaint that she was passed over for a high post on Marie Bartiromo’s Sunday Morning Futures program because the network supposedly favored a male applicant.
The producer claimed that Fox News execs frequently made allegedly disparaging remarks about female workers such as presenters Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. She alleged that some people referred to Bartiromo as a “crazy b***h” who was “menopausal.” Abby Grossberg went on to say that when she began working on The Tucker Carlson Show, she was appalled by the atmosphere. She claimed that her workspace was adorned with big photographs of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “in a plunging bathing suit” on her first day.
According to the complaint received by CNN:
“Grossberg was mortified by what she was witnessing and began to feel a sinking feeling in her stomach as it became clear how pervasive misogyny and the desire to embarrass and objectify women was among Tucker Carlson Tonight’s male staff.”
Grossberg’s complaint, filed in New York, repeated the accusations of sexism and claimed that there was a culture of making anti-Semitic remarks. Carlson and the employees of his team were mentioned in the complaint by the lady. Parisis G. Filippatos, Abby Grossberg’s counsel, stated that the former had “ample documentary evidence in all forms to support a broad swath” of the claims she made in the cases.
Grossberg told CNN that she filed Fox News in the expectation that it would force the network to reform. She went on to say that she felt it was “the only step” she could take to reclaim her dignity and save her job. The director also stated her desire to “expose the lies and deceit” she “witnessed for years” on two of Fox News’ most popular programs.
What was Fox News’ reaction to Abby Grossberg’s lawsuit?
On the same day Abby Grossberg attacked Fox News, the network sued her to prevent her from challenging the station. According to the business, the director vowed to suit Fox for prejudice and reprisal. Insider was informed by a network representative:
“Because Ms. Grossberg has threatened to reveal FOX News Media’s attorney-client privileged information, we have filed a temporary restraining order to protect our rights.”
The representative also protected the network against the claims made by Abby Grossberg, claiming that some of the producer’s concerns were expressed following a negative performance review:
“Fox News Media retained an independent outside counsel to conduct an immediate investigation into Ms. Grossberg’s concerns, which were raised following a critical performance review.” These allegations will be fiercely defended.”
According to reports, the network was also pursuing a protective order against Abby Grossberg to prevent her from disclosing confidential information in her case, which would cause the network “immediate irreparable harm.” Grossberg and her lawyer claimed that Fox News’ assertions that her complaints arrived only after a critical performance evaluation were false. Filippatos stated to CNN:
“It’s yet another example of Fox News not only avoiding but also attempting to bury, the truth.”
In the meantime, Grossberg stated:
“Fox simply does not care. It flawlessly describes everything. They don’t worry about their workers… or about their fans.”
Fox News withdrew its case against Abby Grossberg on Tuesday.
