Fox News producer who sued network last week over her Dominion testimony says she was fired
Fox News studios and headquarters in New York City on March 21, 2023. (Source: Ted Shaffrey / AP via CNN)
The Fox News producer who accused the right-wing network of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion defamation case has been fired, she disclosed in new court filings.
Lawyers for Abby Grossberg, a former producer for Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson who is suing Fox News over the alleged legal coercion, said that she was fired by the network on Friday. Her lawyers said the company's official explanation for the dismissal was that she "improperly disclosed information regarding the Dominion/Fox Lawsuit that the Company purportedly believed was privileged."
Grossberg's attorneys argued in court papers that her "pretextual" filing was yet another attempt by Fox News to "mask its continued unlawful conduct." Fox News has denied all wrongdoing regarding Grossberg, and separately, maintains that it never defamed Dominion.
Last week, Grossberg filed explosive lawsuits in New York and Delaware accusing Fox News lawyers of coercing her into providing misleading testimony in the Dominion case -- testimony that would protect the network and its top talent. She also claimed she had been subjected to a toxic and sexist work environment while at Fox News. The company contests all of her allegations.
Grossberg submitted damning new testimony in the high-stakes defamation case, which was made public Monday. She submitted an "errata sheet" — a court filing to formally correct mistakes or inaccuracies in prior filings or testimony — in which she said a correction was needed because she had been pressured and coerced into protecting the right-wing network during her September 2022 deposition.
When asked in her September deposition if she trusts the Fox producers that she worked with, she originally said "yes." But she now wants to change that testimony to "no," because "they're activists, not journalists, and impose their political agendas on the programming," according to the new court filings.
Grossberg also originally said in her September deposition that it wasn't important to issue a correction when a guest said something untrue on Bartiromo's Fox News program, "Sunday Morning Futures." But in her new testimony, she said, "Yes," because "although our guests had the right to answer how they pleased, it was Maria's responsibility to push back against untrue statements with facts or follow-up questions."
A Fox News spokesperson said in a statement Monday that the network's lawyers had previously told Grossberg that she was "free to file whatever legal claims she wished" but was not legally permitted to share the "privileged information" that she possessed because of her role in the Dominion case. She gave a deposition in the case, and her testimony has been cited by Dominion in some of its court filings.
"We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination," the spokesperson said. "Ms. Grossberg ignored these communications and chose to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect those portions containing Fox's privileged information."
The Fox News statement went on to say that the network "will continue to vigorously defend Fox against Ms. Grossberg's unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations."
Oliver Darcy contributed reporting
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