The complaint, which arose out of Fox News’s promotion of vote-rigging conspiracy theories after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, is on track to proceed to trial.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York state appeals court on Thursday rejected Fox's bid to dismiss a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit by voting machine company Smartmatic over statements made on air following the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

In 2023, Fox settled a similar lawsuit filed by another election systems company, Dominion Voting Systems, for $787.5 million. Before the settlement, Fox had sought to exclude Rupert Murdoch from testifying in person at a trial, but the Delaware judge rejected that request.