Kevin O’Leary is facing a defamation lawsuit from a group opposing the construction of a data center in Utah. The legal action follows the “Shark Tank” star’s appearance on Fox News, where he alleged that some opposition members have connections to China, as reported by The Hill.
The lawsuit, which also names Fox News as a defendant, was filed on Wednesday in the federal district court of Utah by the Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson, and Josh Kanter. The complaint asserts that Kanter and Finlayson have endured severe reputational damage, substantial economic losses, emotional distress, and threats to their safety following O’Leary’s comments on Fox News.
The legal filing claims that “Fox played a crucial role in O’Leary’s defamatory campaign, allowing him to attack the plaintiffs five times over three weeks.” It further alleges that despite the lack of evidence supporting O’Leary’s claims, Fox News repeatedly provided him a platform to make these accusations to a wide audience without any disclaimer.
In response to the lawsuit, Fox News Media stated, “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. We will vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”
Representatives for O’Leary did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In late June, Fox News issued a statement apologizing for O’Leary’s remarks. The statement said, “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. 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.”
O’Leary also took to social media to retract his allegations, stating, “Recently I appeared on various news programs and would like to clarify that I have no evidence that Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson, Taylor Knuth or Josh Kanter are funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party.”
