Fox Nearly Bought “The Apprentice” To Placate Trump

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Soon after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Fox Corp. explored acquiring rights to “The Apprentice,” the competition show that Donald Trump hosted on NBC before he became president, according to court filings from Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit.

Rupert Murdoch, Fox’s chair, and his son Lachlan Murdoch, the company’s executive chair and chief executive, discussed acquiring the show in November 2020, according to court documents released this week.

At the time, President Trump was challenging the results of the election, alleging there had been voting fraud. Fox News had fallen out of favor with Mr. Trump for being the first network to call Arizona for Joe Biden. Fox was suffering a backlash from viewers who were upset with its coverage.

Read the full article.

The Murdochs discussed acquiring “The Apprentice” in Dec 2020, @JBFlint reports from latest court filings. “Trump would want a fortune but maybe it’s worth it,” Rupert Murdoch wrote in one message. https://t.co/pgkNmtsu26 via @WSJ

— keachhagey (@keachhagey) March 9, 2023