Kevin O'Leary, Fox News seek dismissal of defamation lawsuit stemming from data center debate

SALT LAKE CITY — Kevin O'Leary, the force behind the Box Elder County data center proposal, is calling for dismissal of the federal defamation suit he faces stemming from his critical comments targeting foes of the controversial project.

The celebrity businessman on Monday filed his response to the lawsuit filed in July against him by Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, and leaders from the two organizations: Joshua Kanter and Gabrielle Finlayson. Like O'Leary, Fox News Network, the other defendant in the case, also filed a motion to dismiss the matter.

Kanter, the founder of the Alliance, and Finlayson, a senior partner with Elevate, contend in their lawsuit that O'Leary defamed them during the contentious public debate when the proposal first publicly emerged by saying they had links to China. They filed the suit on July 15 in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

In his answer, though, O'Leary rejects the charge, noting the language he used in publicly criticizing the project foes on television, his invitation for Kanter and Finlayson to respond to him and more.

"Read in the full context of each appearance, on opinion programming, in the middle of an eight-week political fight in which both sides accused the other of wrongdoing, no reasonable viewer would take them as factual reports. They are argument and rhetorical hyperbole qualified as O'Leary spoke them," O'Leary's response reads.

O'Leary made his critical comments suggesting Kanter and Finlayson had links to the Chinese government in a May 11 interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. In its response, the television network argued, in part, that the suit doesn't demonstrate malice on the part of Fox in interviewing O'Leary, an element of defamation.

Moreover, the comments by O'Leary that are at issue "are nonactionable assertions of opinion," Fox said.

O'Leary, pushing the Box Elder County proposal through O'Leary Digital, had suggested that foes of his data center initiative were "proxies for the Chinese government" in his May interview with Fox. "This is the CCP at work here," he told Fox, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. He singled out Finlayson and Kanter by name.

Later, O'Leary posted a social media message on June 25 clarifying his position, though not apologizing, and Bartiromo issued an apology on behalf of the news outlet on June 26.

O'Leary Digital's plans for Box Elder County, which have sparked widespread debate and fierce opposition from some, call for development of data centers and up to 9.5 gigawatts of power-generating capacity to support them. The proposal is seemingly on hold as another lawsuit in Utah by foes of the plans winds its way through state court.

This story will be updated.

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