“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary and Fox News are being sued for defamation over claims he made about a Utah data center on the network.
On Wednesday, the Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson and Josh Kanter filed a lawsuit in Utah federal district court, The New York Times, Business Insider and other outlets reported.
In it, the plaintiffs claimed that Kanter and Finlayson “suffered devastating reputational harm, significant economic losses, severe emotional distress, and ongoing threats to their physical safety” because of O’Leary’s false allegations.
“Fox was instrumental in O’Leary’s defamatory smear campaign, putting him on air to attack Plaintiffs five times in three weeks,” the lawsuit read. “Despite O’Leary’s inherently unreliable claims, and his clear lack of support for them, Fox repeatedly invited O’Leary onto its programs and allowed him to broadcast his false accusations to millions of viewers without any qualification.”
The suit stems from a May appearance that O’Leary made on “Mornings with Maria,” during which he claimed some of the individuals involved in a campaign against the 40,000-acre AI data center had ties to China. At one point, he alleged they were “proxies for the Chinese Government,” per Business Insider.
In response to the lawsuit, Fox News Media released a statement, which read, “Fox News Media publicly corrected the record on every program where on-air guest Kevin O’Leary’s comments were made, all of which was extensively publicized,” a spokesperson, Irena Brigant, told The New York Times. “We will vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”
Fox News previously issued an on-air apology for O’Leary’s remarks in June.
“Kevin O’Leary appeared as a guest on the show on May 24 and discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding his planned data center project in Utah,” Johnny Joey Jones, host of “Big Weekend Show,” said. “He made certain claims relating to the opponents of his project. Mr. O’Leary has now corrected the record and explained he has ‘no evidence’ that the Alliance for a Better Utah, Josh Kantor or Taylor Knuth are funded by China or the Chinese communist party.”
It continued, “Fox News Media is likewise aware of no evidence that they are funded by, or acting in the direction, or in coordination with Chinese interests in opposing Mr. O’Leary’s project. Fox News Media also apologizes for the error.”
Additionally, O’Leary clarified via X in June that he had “no evidence” for the claims he made.
O’Leary has not released a statement, as of writing, following the lawsuit.
