Internal Documents Reveal Fox News Executives’ Concerns About Jeanine Pirro
New York, NY – Newly unsealed court filings reveal Fox News executives privately expressed significant reservations about Jeanine Pirro, a prominent on-air personality, labeling her a “reckless maniac” and questioning her judgment even as they elevated her role within the network. The documents,released as part of the ongoing legal battle with Smartmatic,offer a stark contrast between the public image cultivated for Pirro and the internal assessments of her conduct.
The disclosures come as Fox News navigates another defamation lawsuit, this time from Smartmatic, following a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems earlier this year. The revelations regarding Pirro’s portrayal underscore the network’s internal struggles with balancing ratings and responsible journalism, particularly during the 2020 presidential election cycle. The case centers on allegations that Fox News hosts amplified false claims of election fraud, damaging Smartmatic’s reputation.
According to the filings, concerns about Pirro’s pronouncements were voiced as early as November 2020, shortly after the election. Fox News executive producer Scott Lewin reportedly described Pirro as a ”reckless maniac” in an email, while another executive questioned whether she had “any understanding of the legal issues.” Despite these internal criticisms, Fox promoted Pirro in 2022, making her a full-time host of The Five, the network’s highest-rated program.
The documents detail how Fox News leadership, including Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp., weighed the risks of allowing possibly defamatory statements to air against the benefits of maintaining popular hosts. Murdoch has publicly stated the network will be better positioned to defend itself against Smartmatic than it was against Dominion, citing a different judge and jurisdiction – New York state court in Manhattan.
Pirro remained a key figure on The Five until recently, when she was selected by former President Donald Trump to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. The unsealed filings provide a window into the internal deliberations at fox News as it grapples with legal challenges and seeks to maintain its position in a rapidly evolving media landscape. The Smartmatic trial is expected to further scrutinize the network’s editorial practices and the extent to which executives prioritized profit over factual reporting.
