Fox News has filed a motion to get California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $787 million defamation lawsuit against host Jesse Watters dismissed, TheWrap has learned.
On Tuesday, on behalf of Watters, Fox News submitted a motion to dismiss Newsom’s suit, which Newsom filed back in June as a legal response to the broadcaster allegedly claiming that the politician never had a phone conversation with President Donald Trump regarding the ongoing ICE raids in Los Angeles and the president’s subsequent deployment of the National Guard.
Per Washington Post reporter, Jeremy Barr, the news organization called the governor’s move a “political stunt,” adding that the suit should be dismissed because it was supposedly filed in the wrong state, Delaware.
“[Gavin] Newsom cannot create conditions ripe for confusion or misinterpretation and then demand a $787 million ransom from a news organization taking his words at face value,” the network claimed in the filing according to Barr’s reporting. In addition, Fox News claimed that Newsom can’t prove that Watters was aware that it was wrong to state that Newsom was “lying.”
“The tone and content of Newsom’s complaint and his conduct underscore that the purpose of this lawsuit is to create a press spectacle and harass Fox News, not to remedy any legitimate reputational harm,” Barr reports.
Fox News has now filed its motion to dismiss Gavin Newsom’s lawsuit over comments made by Jesse Watters.
The network calls the lawsuit a “political stunt” and says it should be dismissed for being filed in the wrong state (Delaware, where the Dominion/Fox case was held).
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) August 7, 2025
The California governor responded to motion calling the filing desperate and accused Fox News of remaining “committed to distorting the truth.”
“Fox’s motion reveals their desperation and that they remain committed to distorting the truth on Donald Trump’s behalf,” Newsom shared in a statement with TheWrap regarding the motion to dismiss. “They should face consequences — just like they did in the Dominion case. Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine. We will see them in court.”
Per Newsom’s lawsuit, as TheWrap previously reported, Newsom stated that he last spoke to the president on June 7 for about 16 minutes; the call came a day after President Trump sent 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles to counter protesters amid the anti-ICE demonstrations that happened in the city.
Later, on June 10, Trump said he spoke to Newsom “a day ago,” which Newsom pushed back against. Watters then asked on air, “Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him?” while flashing a screenshot of Trump’s June 7 call with Newsom on the screen, which had been obtained by Fox News reporter John Roberts.
That move, according to Newsom’s attorneys, fits the legal standard for defamation. His lawsuit, filed in Delaware Superior Court, the same state in which Fox News is incorporated, said the broadcast hurt his standing in the eyes of voters, which could cost him in future elections. Watters’ reporting also violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, which prohibits “unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading” business practices or advertising.
“Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement at the time. “We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed.”
A person familiar with Newsom’s lawsuit said he is pursuing legal action in a personal capacity and that his office is not involved.
In a letter sent to Fox News at the time, Newsom’s attorneys Mark Bankson and Michael Teter blasted President Trump as a “near-octogenarian with a history of delusionary public statements and unhinged late-night social media screeds” who might easily confuse his dates. “But Fox’s decision to cover up for President Trump’s error cannot be so easily dismissed.”
