Media mogul Lachlan Murdoch and his wife Sarah landed in Sydney by private jet on Wednesday, in a trip that is sure to be two parts business and pleasure.
The Fox Group CEO’s appearance in Australia coincides with his 51st birthday on Thursday – but it’s likely he’ll do more than just celebrate as he prepares to fight a legal battle against a publisher. local publication that he believes defamed him.
The billionaire looked quietly confident as he stepped off the plane, believed to be worth $90 million, and posed simply in a white shirt, jeans and sneakers.
Media mogul Lachlan Murdoch and his wife Sarah landed in Sydney by private jet on Wednesday, in a trip that is sure to be two parts business and pleasure.
The son of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch completed his look with sunglasses and a wristwatch, while sporting a rare tribal tattoo on his left arm.
Sarah, a former model and TV presenter, looked radiant in a chic wool coat and blue jeans as she stepped off the plane and climbed into the driver’s seat of a waiting car.
Her husband jumped into the passenger seat before the couple drove off.
The Fox CEO’s appearance in Australia coincides with his 51st birthday on Thursday – but it is likely he will do more than just celebrate as he prepares to wage a legal battle against a a local publisher that he believes defamed him. (Pictured: Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch)
Murdoch has claimed an article published by Australian opinion and news website Crikey made baseless, defamatory suggestions that he conspired with Donald Trump to overthrow the US government.
In a defamation lawsuit filed in Federal Court last month, Mr. Murdoch is suing a June 29 opinion piece by political editor Bernard Keane regarding subsequent hearings on Trump. and the riot at the Capitol on January 6.
In a video that has been widely shared on social media, Keane calls the former US president a “betrayer” and “a traitor who doesn’t hide his hands”, and claims that the Murdoch family, own and control Fox News , as ‘unrelated accomplice’.
The billionaire looked quietly confident as he stepped off the plane, believed to be worth $90 million, and posed casually in a white shirt, jeans and sneakers
While the article did not mention Lachlan Murdoch by name, instead referring to the Murdoch family, the Fox executive claimed he was smeared and severely damaged his reputation.
‘Murdoch has suffered severe damage to his character, personal reputation and professional reputation as an entrepreneur and corporate director, has both suffered and will continue to suffer. and considerable shame,’ documents he filed with the court said.
The lawsuit targets the publisher behind the Crikey front-page ad, Private Media, as well as Keane and editor-in-chief Peter Fray.
The son of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch completed his look with sunglasses and a wristwatch, while sporting a rare tribal tattoo on his left arm.
Murdoch, who has kept prominent defamation lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC in the case, is seeking more damages.
He claimed that Private Media acted with malice and engaged in a ‘bad advertising campaign’ to increase his subscribers by making false statements he threatened and threatened. threatened the company about the article.
According to court documents, the article was defamed by falsely claiming Murdoch was involved in an illegal criminal plot with Trump to overturn the 2020 US presidential election and provoke a mob intent on murder marching on the Capitol.
Sarah, a former model and TV presenter, looked radiant in a chic wool coat and blue jeans as she stepped off the plane
Crikey has since written many other articles about Mr. Murdoch, January 6 and subsequent legal action lurking, publicizing all letters sent between Fox CEO John Churchill and the laws. Professor of Private Media at MinterEllison.
Mr. Murdoch said he was not approached for comment prior to the June 29 article and subsequent articles published on the Crikey website, and only complained to Private Media four times over a five-year period. .
He is also seeking bans from publishing and promoting articles that are allegedly defamatory.
The mother of three children climbed into the driver’s seat and waited
In a statement on its website, Crikey said it welcomes Murdoch’s lawsuit.
‘For nearly two months, Crikey has been facing threats of legal action from Lachlan Murdoch for an article about Fox News, Donald Trump and the January 6 uprising in Washington. Last night, Lachlan Murdoch finally made his decision. We welcome it,’ the company wrote.
Private Media CEO Will Hayward tweeted that Murdoch was ‘liberating his legal and financial force’ against the publisher.
Her husband jumped into the passenger seat before the couple drove away
‘We are determined to fight for our role as journalists to cover important events – in fact, what we publish has been dwarfed by the hundreds of articles and commentary on the role. role of Fox News and the Murdochs in the US (where, as public figures, they can’t sue for defamation), says Hayward.
He added that Crikey could incur millions of dollars in damages and legal costs as a result of the lawsuit.
Speaking to ABC Radio National on Wednesday, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was surprised by what he called a hypocrisy lawsuit and stood up for Crikey and its article.
Crikey publisher Eric Beecher (pictured in 2004) wrote an open letter alleging that the Murdochs took legal action against his website. Lachlan Murdoch reacts by suing the publisher
In the opinion piece, political editor Bernard Keane called former US president Donald Trump a ‘traitor’ and ‘unrelenting traitor’ and suggested that the Murdoch family, own and control Fox News, as ‘indirect accomplices’ in the Capitol on January 6. riot. (Pictured: ‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Chansley was part of a crowd that infiltrated Congress in Washington, DC, to demand a reversal of the US election results on January 6 last year)
Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch are seen at the Vanity Fair Oscars 2019 party in Beverly Hills
‘Few people have defamed more people than Murdoch over the years through their media organisation. They’re always whispering to each other about freedom of speech and libel laws being too harsh,’ he said.
Mr Turnbull added that the so-called Big Lie that Trump won in the 2020 election and that current US President Joe Biden stole was propagated, amplified and promoted by Fox News.
“January 6 could not have happened without the toxic influence of Fox News,” he told ABC.
Part of a letter sent by lawyer representing Lachlan Murdoch to independent news site Crikey
Some of the grievances that Lachlan Murdoch’s attorney raised over an article published by Crikey
Source: | Dailymail.co.uk
