Judge Dismisses Newsmax’s “Shotgun Complaint” Against Fox News But Will Allow New Filing

Newsmax‘s antitrust lawsuit against Fox News has been dismissed by a federal judge as a “shotgun complaint,” but the litigation can be revived in a new pleading.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, in an order issued on Friday, noted that Newsmax alleged violations of the Sherman Act, the Florida Antitrust Act and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

“The second, third, fourth and fifth counts in the complaint, however, incorporate all preceding allegations, thus rendering the complaint an impermissible ‘shotgun’ pleading,’” Cannon wrote.

She noted that a shotgun complaint is one where “each count adopts the allegations of all preceding counts, causing each successive count to carry all that came before and the last count to be a combination of the entire complaint.”

“The court has an independent obligation to dismiss such pleadings and require repleader,” Cannon wrote.

She gave Newsmax until Sept. 11 to do so.

Newsmax filed suit earlier this week, claiming that Fox’s demands for exclusivity in distribution in carriage contracts violated antitrust law.

A Fox News spokesperson said in response to the lawsuit, “Newsmax cannot sue their way out of their own competitive failures in the marketplace to chase headlines simply because they can’t attract viewers.”

Spokesperson for Fox and Newsmax did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

More to come.