SALT LAKE CITY — Two Utah community groups have filed a lawsuit against developer Kevin O'Leary and the Fox News network over an alleged campaign that falsely accused them of acting on behalf of the Chinese government to stop a proposed data center.
Alliance for a Better Utah and Elevate Strategies, along with the group's founders, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Utah.
The lawsuit claims O'Leary and Fox News orchestrated a "smear campaign" against the groups, who have been steadfast in their opposition to the Stratos Project data center proposed for Box Elder County.
As the lead developer of the Stratos Project, O'Leary accused Alliance for a Better Utah and Elevate Strategies of being agents for the Chinese Communist Party, despite offering no evidence.
Last month, the reality television star walked back those comments and told FOX 13 News that he did so after receiving a demand letter to clarify his stance. At the time, O'Leary refused to say who had sent the letter.
O’Leary said a demand letter arrived before his change on China influence:
The lawsuit alleges that Fox News provided a forum for O'Leary's false accusations, giving him "a national platform to continue to repeat them."
"FOX News Media publicly corrected the record on every program where on-air guest Kevin O’Leary’s comments were made, all of which was extensively publicized. We will vigorously defend against this lawsuit," the network said in a statement.
Although FOX 13 is a Fox television affiliate station, it is fully owned by the E.W. Scripps company with no ownership connection to Fox Corporation.
“Kevin O'Leary didn't just tell lies about us. He used one of the biggest media platforms in the country to repeatedly spread those lies to millions of people,” said Alliance for a Better Utah founder Joshua Kanter. “We were forced into the surreal position of having to publicly deny that we were agents of a foreign government. Those false accusations turned our lives upside down, damaged our reputations, harmed our organizations and livelihoods, and caused unimaginable emotional distress.
"No one, no matter how wealthy or influential, should be able to inflict that kind of harm without being held accountable.”
FOX 13 News reached out to Kevin O'Leary for comment on the lawsuit, but has yet to receive a response.
