Al Jazeera America is countersuing former Current TV owners, former US vice-president Al Gore and co-founder Joel Hyatt, rejecting claims that it withheld funds relating to its buyout of the network.
In August, Gore and Hyatt filed a lawsuit accusing Al Jazeera of fraud and breach of contract, alleging that the Qatari company has withheld US$65 million (€48 million) owed to them from Al Jazeera’s purchase of the US news network. The money is currently being held in an ‘escrow’ account.
Rejecting the claims, Al Jazeera America accused Gore and Hyatt of making misrepresentations relating to the Current TV acquisition and said that it is now seeking compensation from the escrow fund.
“Vice-President Gore, Joel Hyatt and their associates have already received hundreds of millions from the sale of Current TV. The remainder of the sales price is held in escrow, and Al Jazeera America is entitled to be indemnified from that money for claims arising from Gore and Hyatt’s management of Current,” said Andrew Deutsch, a partner at DLA Piper, representing Al Jazeera America.
Al Jazeera described Gore and Hyatt’s suite as a “desperate attempt to add to the hundreds of millions of dollars already paid for Current TV” and claimed that the former owners “did not live up to their promise to indemnify Al Jazeera America for claims made against actions taken by Current TV while it was managed by Gore and Hyatt.”
DTVE: the week in view – With WandaVision, @Disney shows that it has the scale to be the true @netflix competitor… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
17 January 2021 @ 19:00:00 UTC
Have you taken the Digital TV Europe Industry Survey 2021?
digitaltveurope.com/intelligence/d… https://t.co/YLEH9FTA4w
17 January 2021 @ 15:00:01 UTC
Amazon reportedly holds talks with Serie A over domestic rights #TopStoriesofTheWeek digitaltveurope.com/2021/01/14/ama… https://t.co/uoHNqERO28
17 January 2021 @ 10:00:01 UTC
ICYMI: Apple TV+ launches overhauled website digitaltveurope.com/2021/01/15/app… https://t.co/r2g95BCAAk
16 January 2021 @ 19:00:00 UTC
Don't miss the chance to share your videos on the future of digital video in the Digital TV Europe Industry Survey… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
16 January 2021 @ 16:00:01 UTC