FOX NEWS DUMPS LOU DOBBS AFTER HE IS SUED BY SMARTMATIC

Fox Business has canceled “Lou Dobbs Tonight” one day after the host was named in a multibillion dollar defamation lawsuit against the network and its parent company, Elahe Izadi and Sarah Ellison reported for The Washington Post.

Dobbs, 75, was among the most ardent pro-Trump voices on air. He held influence over Trump administration policy — particularly on trade and immigration — and relentlessly promoted the former president’s false claims of election fraud late last year.

His nightly program, which a person close to Dobbs said aired its final episode Friday, was by far the highest-rated on Fox Business. The news was first reported by the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by a Fox spokesperson.

Dobbs will be unlikely to return to air, although he still has a contract with Fox News Media, according to the Times.

Election technology company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit Thursday against Fox News, its parent company Fox Corp. and several on-air commentators, including Dobbs. The network, however, said Dobbs’s cancellation had already been in the works.

“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business — this is part of those planned changes,” a Fox News Media spokesperson said in an email.

“A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future.” Reached via text message on Friday night, Dobbs told The Washington Post, “Thanks, but I have no comment at this time.”

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