Does anyone think for a moment that Dominion Voting Systems was worth the amount for which Fox agreed to settle the defamation case? But Fox, which according to the Wall Street Journal and reports let Carlson go over displeasure with emails and texts that surfaced during the case, likely understood that, among other tawdry material, a parade of those messages would do far more brand damage than whatever even an American jury might award.
Another legal action, from former producer Abby Grossberg who alleges she endured misogynistic and antisemitic comments while working on Carlson’s show, also would have been even more embarrassing to Fox if he had remained. But the Carlson saga is a cautionary tale for all of us, that texts and emails, WhatsApp chats and social media postings are forever. And if you don’t want what you post to appear in this column or worse, on this paper’s front page, think five times before posting it.