Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, has issued a cease-and-desist letter to left-wing watchdog group Media Matters for America, in response to the group’s publication of leaked videos featuring former Fox host Tucker Carlson’s off-air remarks, The Hill reports.
Attorneys for Fox Corporation stated in a letter sent on Friday, “We write on behalf of Fox Corporation to clarify any misunderstandings Media Matters may have had regarding previously unaired footage that Media Matters has published in a series of articles headlined ‘FOXLEAKS.'”
“That unaired footage is Fox’s confidential intellectual property; Fox did not consent to its distribution or publication; and Fox does not consent to its further distribution or publication,” the statement went on to say.
Fox’s legal team asserted that the videos were provided to Media Matters “without Fox’s authorization” and demanded the group to “cease and desist from distribution, publication, and misuse of Fox’s misappropriated proprietary footage, which you are now on notice was unlawfully obtained.”
Media Matters President Angelo Carusone responded to the letter in a statement to The Hill on Friday, arguing that “reporting on newsworthy leaked material is a cornerstone of journalism. For Fox to argue otherwise is absurd and further dispels any pretense that they’re a news operation.”
Carusone also quipped, “Perhaps if I tell them that the footage came from a combination of WikiLeaks and Hunter Biden’s laptop, it will alleviate their concerns.”