A top Dominion Voting Systems official told a San Diego forum Wednesday that Tucker Carlson didn’t lose his Fox News job as part of its mammoth defamation case.
Nicole Nollette, executive vice president of operations at the elections tech company, said: “Tucker Carlson was not part of the settlement agreement between Fox and Dominion.”
Interviewed at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar in Carmel Valley, Nollette sought to counter reports that La Jolla native Carlson was fired as part of the $787 million deal reached minutes before an April jury trial.
The issue arose at the start of her 16-minute segment with interviewer Michal Lev-Ram at the two-day Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen conference.
Lev-Ram, Fortune editor-at large, noted recent rumors that as part of the settlement agreement there was a “clause that Tucker Carlson would be fired.”
Variety magazine on Tuesday reported denials by Fox News and Dominion.
“As the Fox principals who negotiated the settlement well know, Dominion made no demands about Tucker Carlson’s employment orally or in writing,” Dominion told Variety. “Any claims otherwise are categorically false and a thinly veiled effort to further damage Dominion. Fox should take every effort to stop these lies immediately.”
Nollette, a 46-year-old Denver resident, said Fox was the first of seven “legal battles” Dominion had because “our brand was destroyed at this point.” She didn’t specifically mention one against San Diego-based One America News Network.
Why no apology as part of the settlement?
“The honest answer was that it wouldn’t have done anything,” Nollette said during the live-streamed session.
A “forced apology” wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the case or elections and disinformation in the elections industry, she said.
“And quite honestly, if we would have saw this through to, you know, some sort of jury decision, they couldn’t have forced an apology anyway,” Nollette said. “And so it wasn’t one of our main goals. We really just wanted to get the truth out there and I think we were incredibly successful at that.”
Nolette, a Navy vetera, recalled the personal toll that Fox News lies about Dominion rigging the 2020 presidential vote had on herself personally.
She and her Army veteran parents’ addresses were posted online, including a photo of their home — which prompted an FBI visit to warn them of threats.
Nollette said it was incredibly unsettling “to hear my mom have that experience when she’s retired and she’s worked her entire life to have a very boring retirement.”
With other Dominion employees receiving death threats, she said, the company opted to settle instead of putting staff and customers through the “emotional toll” of a potential two-month trial.
Still, she conceded to mixed emotions about not going to trial.
“We decided that that … having gotten the truth out and saving our customers and our employees a lot of hardship going through a drawn-out trial that it was the right decision,” she said.
Nollette, a former chief of staff at slot-machine maker International Game Technology, pushed back against critics who said the settlement made little impact.
“I think setting that precedent makes a huge impact … a huge exclamation point,” she said, “And that’s really important. And again, it’s the first of seven” lawsuits.
Updated at 5:39 p.m. May 17, 2023
