Lachlan Murdoch drops defamation suit against Aussie website Crikey

News Corp co-chair Lachlan Murdoch. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Lachlan Murdoch has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Australian news website Crikey, his lawyer confirmed in a statement Thursday.

Why it matters: The News Corp co-chair dropped the lawsuit days after Fox News settled a historic defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for a record $787 million.

Flashback: Murdoch sued Crikey for defamation last August in response to an article published by Crikey alleging Murdoch and Fox News were partially responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Details: Murdoch's lawyer John Churchill confirmed in a statement on Friday morning local time that he had filed a notice of discontinuance in the defamation proceedings against Private Media, publisher of Crikey.

• "Mr Murdoch remains confident that the court would ultimately find in his favour, however, he does not wish to further enable Crikey’s use of the court to litigate a case from another jurisdiction that has already been settled and facilitate a marketing campaign designed to attract subscribers and boost their profits," Churchill said.

What they're saying: Marque Lawyers, which was representing Private Media in the case, tweeted: "Lachlan Murdoch has discontinued his defamation case against Crikey. He’ll be up for Crikey’s legal costs. We and our client are well pleased."

• Representatives for Crikey did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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