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Fox News has been exposed like never before. 

Despite what the right-wing talk channel peddled to its millions of loyal viewers in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, behind the scenes its most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives privately trashed claims of election fraud.

That's according to a trove of damning messages contained in a Thursday court filing, part of Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News. The messages show that Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham brutally mocked lies being pushed by former President Donald Trump’s camp asserting that the election was rigged.

The court filing offered the most vivid picture to date of the chaos that transpired behind the scenes at Fox News after Trump lost the election and viewers rebelled against the right-wing channel for accurately calling the contest in President Joe Biden’s favor.

It also provided a mountain of evidence exposing Fox News as a right-wing propaganda channel void of the most basic journalistic ethics.

In one set of messages revealed in the court filing, Carlson texted Ingraham, saying that Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell was "lying" and that he had "caught her" doing so. Ingraham responded, "Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy [Giuliani]."

In other messages, Hannity said Giuliani was "acting like an insane person" and Ingraham described him as "an idiot." Rupert Murdoch said it was "really bad" that Giuliani was advising Trump.

The messages also revealed that Murdoch did not believe Trump’s election lies and even floated the idea of having Carlson, Hannity, and Ingraham appear together in prime time to declare Biden as the rightful winner of the election. Such an act, which never happened, "Would go a long way to stop the Trump myth that the election stolen," Murdoch said.

The legal filing underscored how worried Fox News executives and hosts were in the immediate aftermath of the election of losing its viewership to the smaller right-wing talk channel Newsmax. In multiple instances, Fox News executives and hosts expressed worry over losing viewership to Newsmax and started to crack down on those at the network who fact-checked election lies. 

In one case, after White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich fact-checked a Trump tweet pushing election fraud, Carlson said he wanted her gone. "Please get her fired,” Carlson told Hannity over text message. “Seriously … what the f**k? I’m actually shocked … It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company." Hannity replied that he had already spoken to CEO Suzanne Scott. The next morning, Heinrich’s tweet had been deleted, though other fact checks from her did remain up.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter told me Thursday night that Heinrich was blindsided reading the details in the legal filing and was not aware of the efforts by top hosts behind the scenes to get her fired.

In another case, when host Neil Cavuto cut away from a White House briefing where election misinformation was promoted, senior Fox News leadership were told by Fox Corp. that such a move presented a "brand threat."

Scott exchanged messages with Lachlan Murdoch and outlined a plan to win viewers back. Scott said the right-wing talk channel would "highlight our stars and plant flags letting the viewers know we hear them and respect them." Murdoch responded that the brand needed "rebuilding without any missteps."

Soon after, Fox News debuted a new "standing up for what’s right" marketing campaign featuring the network’s top right-wing talkers. Unfortunately, they weren't exactly standing up for what's right. 

———  BELOW THE FOLD  ———

Lemon's Regret: Don Lemon on Thursday apologized for making sexist remarks on "CNN This Morning" about when women are "in their prime." The CNN anchor described his comments in a tweet as "inartful and irrelevant" and said, "I regret it." Lemon added, "A woman’s age doesn't define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day."

Lemon made the initial comments, which drew swift backlash, during a discussion about former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's presidential candidacy. Haley has called for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 and Lemon argued that Haley herself "isn't in her prime.” Lemon attempted to support his argument by saying that a woman is only “considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s."
 
The comments were met with pushback from co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, but Lemon kept advancing his argument, even doubling down on it in a segment in the following hour. Haley herself weighed in later in the day on Twitter, attacking Lemon for the comments and even using them to fundraise. WaPo's Jeremy Barr and Sarah Ellison have more here.

The NYT Defends Trans Coverage: One day after facing criticism from celebrities and some of The NYT's contributors over its coverage of transgender people, top editors at the paper defended the coverage and warned employees from attacking colleagues. Executive Editor Joe Kahn and Opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury warned staff in a memo that The NYT has a "clear policy prohibiting Times journalists from attacking one another’s journalism publicly or signaling their support for such attacks."

The top editors added, "We do not welcome, and will not tolerate, participation by Times journalists in protests organized by advocacy groups or attacks on colleagues on social media and other public forums." Kahn and Kingsbury also defended the paper's coverage of transgender issues, describing it as "important, deeply reported, and sensitively written." The Daily Beast's Corbin Bolies and Lachlan Cartwright have more here.

► Vanity Fair's Charlotte Klein noted in her story that The NYT published a defense of J.K. Rowling amid the criticism it has received. 

Seacrest Out: Ryan Seacrest announced Thursday that he will depart "Live with Kelly and Ryan" this spring. "I’ve decided to make this my last season as co-host,” Seacrest said, describing the decision as "bittersweet." Seacrest will be replaced by Kelly Ripa's husband, Mark Consuelos, who has filled in at times over the years. CNN's Chloe Melas has more here.

Paramount's Price Hike: Shares in Paramount Global ended the day down more than 4% after the company missed on earnings, reporting that Q4 revenue had declined 7%. But Paramount said that its Parmount+ streaming business had grown to 56 million subscribers, having added nearly 10 million in the last quarter thanks in part to hits such as "Top Gun: Maverick." CEO Bob Bakish also announced plans to up the price of the service in Q3, given that it will be merged with Showtime. The ad-free tier of the service will increase $2 in cost to $11.99. The cheaper version will increase $1 to $5.99. The WSJ's Will Feuer and Jessica Toonkel have more here.

► Of note: "The quarterly adjusted operating loss before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) in the DTC segment again widened though to $575 million from $502 million in the year-ago quarter," Georg Szalai wrote.

WSJ Wallops Newsmax: The WSJ Editorial Board brutally ripped Newsmax on Thursday over the company's campaign aimed at strong arming DirecTV into paying millions of dollars to add the channel back to its lineup. The Journal said it finds it "bewildering why many Republicans are getting involved" and argued Newsmax boss Chris Ruddy "is trying to bring political and government pressure to bear" in his campaign to get DirecTV to pay. "It’s ... odd for conservatives who complain that Democrats are pressuring social-media companies to suppress their views to now bully TV providers to broadcast them," The WSJ Editorial Board wrote. "Political coercion of business is as distasteful from the right as it is from the left." Oof.

Wojcicki Walks: Susan Wojcicki is "stepping back" from her post as YouTube CEO. In a blog post, Wojcicki explained that she intends to "start a new chapter" of her life "focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about.” She will be replaced by chief product officer Neal Mohan. Wojcicki, a longtime Google employee, was the tech giant's 16th employee and spent nearly 25 years with the company. CNN's Brian Fung has more here. 

► Larry Page and Sergey Brin: “Susan has a unique place in Google history and has made the most incredible contribution to products used by people everywhere. We’re so grateful for all she’s done over the last 25 years.”

Diagnosed With Dementia: The family of action film legend Bruce Willis delivered some difficult news to the public on Thursday: "Since we announced Bruce’s diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce’s condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia ... Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis." The family added, "As Bruce’s condition advances, we hope that any media attention can be focused on shining a light on this disease that needs far more awareness and research." CNN's Alli Rosenbloom has more here.

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox on Tuesday.