Fox News nearing settlement with ex-producer who alleged she was pressured to mislead attorneys: report

Fox News is in the end stages of settling a lawsuit brought by a former Tucker Carlson producer who made a litany of legal and sexual misconduct allegations against the company, CNN reported on Thursday.

"Abby Grossberg, the former network producer who filed an explosive complaint against the company earlier this year, is in the final stages of ironing out a settlement with the company, people familiar with the matter told CNN," reported Oliver Darcy. "The settlement will mark the fourth case in a string of lawsuits that the billionaire owners of Fox News, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, have moved to put an end to in recent months. The Murdochs, facing scrutiny on a number of fronts, have sought to disentangle themselves from a web of legal threats."

The claims by Grossberg came out during the height of the litigation brought by Dominion Voting Systems, who alleged Fox knowingly spread conspiracy theories about their election equipment that caused them to lose business. The network ended up settling that case for nearly $800 million, with hours to go before the trial was to kick off.

"Among many of the bombshell allegations included in her complaint was the charge that Fox News lawyers coerced her into providing misleading testimony when she was deposed as part of Dominion’s billion-dollar lawsuit. She later accused Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott of being complicit in the alleged coercion and claimed Fox’s lawyers deleted messages from her phone," said the report. "Grossberg also made a number of eye-popping allegations about the workplace environment at Fox News, accusing the network of rampant sexism. In her lawsuit, Grossberg indicated she was passed over for a top job on Bartiromo’s show because the network preferred it be filled by a male and said Fox News executives referred to the 'Sunday Mornings Futures' host as a 'crazy b**ch' and 'menopausal.'"

Grossberg also alleged Tucker Carlson's set featured a sexualized, high-cleavage image of Nancy Pelosi, and that employees publicly joked about which of the female candidates for Michigan governor they would rather have sex with.

Bartiromo herself was the center of many allegations by Dominion, as she played host to pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who made wild claims including that Hugo Chavez helped commission Dominion's equipment to help fix elections in Venezuela.

"Fox News previously said that Grossberg’s lawsuit was 'riddled with false allegations.' The network repeatedly insisted that its lawyers always acted appropriately," said the report. "Regardless, Grossberg’s eleventh-hour lawsuit unquestionably changed the course of Dominion’s case against Fox News, which ultimately settled for an unprecedented $787 million. Grossberg revealed that Fox News had not turned over some evidence related to Dominion’s lawsuit, prompting the judge’s ire and the appointment of a special master to investigate whether Fox News had followed the court’s orders."