Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Tucker Carlson of slander for stating that a model who was paid $150,000 to stay quiet about her relationship with President Trump had engaged in “a classic case of extortion.”Karen McDougal filed the suit last year, alleging that Carlson had damaged her reputation by falsely accusing her of criminal conduct.
U.S. District Judge Mary Vyskocil ruled that Carlson’s statement was rhetorical hyperbole, and therefore does not rise to the level of defamation.“Fox persuasively argues… that given Mr.
Carlson’s reputation, any reasonable viewer ‘arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism’ about the statements he makes,” Vyskocil wrote.
Read more on variety.com