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Commitments and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Commitments
The Company has commitments under certain firm contractual arrangements (“firm commitments”) to make future payments. These firm commitments secure the future rights to various assets and services to be used in the normal course of operations. The total firm commitments and future debt payments as of September 30, 2022 and June 30, 2022 were approximately $41 billion and $42 billion, respectively. The decrease from June 30, 2022 was primarily due to sports programming rights payments.
Contingencies
FOX News
The Company’s FOX News business and certain of its current and former employees have been subject to allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex and race. The Company has resolved many of these claims and is contesting other claims in litigation. The Company has also received regulatory and investigative inquiries relating to these matters. To date, none of the amounts paid in settlements or reserved for pending or future claims is material, individually or in the aggregate, to the Company. The amount of additional liability, if any, that may result from these or related matters cannot be estimated at this time. However, the Company does not currently anticipate that the ultimate resolution of any such pending matters will have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
U.K. Newspaper Matters Indemnity
In connection with the separation of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (“21CF”) and News Corporation in June 2013 (the “21CF News Corporation Separation”), 21CF agreed to indemnify News Corporation, on an after-tax basis, for payments made after the 21CF News Corporation Separation arising out of civil claims and investigations relating to phone hacking, illegal data access and inappropriate payments to public officials that occurred at subsidiaries of News Corporation before the 21CF News Corporation Separation, as well as legal and professional fees and expenses paid in connection with the related criminal matters, other than fees, expenses and costs relating to employees who are not (i) directors, officers or certain designated employees or (ii) with respect to civil matters, co-defendants with News Corporation (the “U.K. Newspaper Matters Indemnity”). In accordance with the Separation Agreement (as defined in Note 1—Description of Business and Basis of Presentation in the 2022 Form 10-K under the heading “The Distribution”), the Company assumed certain costs and liabilities related to the U.K. Newspaper Matters Indemnity. The liability recorded in the
Balance Sheets related to the indemnity was approximately $115 million and $65 million as of September 30, 2022 and June 30, 2022, respectively. The increase in the liability recorded was attributable to an increase in the number of civil claims submitted in September 2022 in advance of the September 30, 2022 cutoff date set by the judge for this phase of the litigation.
Defamation and Disparagement Claims
From time to time, the Company and its news businesses, including FOX News Media and the FOX Television Stations, and their employees are subject to lawsuits alleging defamation or disparagement. These include lawsuits filed by Smartmatic USA Corp. and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Smartmatic”) in February 2021 and Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Dominion”) in March 2021. The Company believes these lawsuits, including the Smartmatic and Dominion matters, are without merit and intends to defend against them vigorously. To date, none of the amounts the Company has paid in settlements of defamation or disparagement claims or reserved for pending or future claims is material, individually or in the aggregate, to the Company. The amount of additional liability, if any, that may result from these or related matters cannot be estimated at this time. However, the Company does not currently anticipate that the ultimate resolution of any such pending matters will have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Other
The Company establishes an accrued liability for legal claims and indemnification claims when the Company determines that a loss is both probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Once established, accruals are adjusted from time to time, as appropriate, in light of additional information. The amount of any loss ultimately incurred in relation to matters for which an accrual has been established may be higher or lower than the amounts accrued for such matters. Any fees, expenses, fines, penalties, judgments or settlements which might be incurred by the Company in connection with the various proceedings could affect the Company’s results of operations and financial condition. For the contingencies disclosed above for which there is at least a reasonable possibility that a loss may be incurred, other than the accrual provided, the Company was unable to estimate the amount of loss or range of loss.
The Company’s operations are subject to tax primarily in various domestic jurisdictions and as a matter of course, the Company is regularly audited by federal and state tax authorities. The Company believes it has appropriately accrued for the expected outcome of all pending tax matters and does not currently anticipate that the ultimate resolution of pending tax matters will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial condition, future results of operations or liquidity. Each member of the 21CF consolidated group, which includes 21CF, the Company (prior to the Distribution (as defined in Note 1—Description of Business and Basis of Presentation in the 2022 Form 10-K under the heading “The Distribution”)) and 21CF’s other subsidiaries, is jointly and severally liable for the U.S. federal income and, in certain jurisdictions, state tax liabilities of each other member of the consolidated group. Consequently, the Company could be liable in the event any such liability is incurred, and not discharged, by any other member of the 21CF consolidated group. The tax matters agreement entered into in connection with the Separation (as defined in Note 1—Description of Business and Basis of Presentation in the 2022 Form 10-K under the heading “The Distribution”) requires 21CF and/or The Walt Disney Company to indemnify the Company for any such liability. Disputes or assessments could arise during future audits by the Internal Revenue Service in amounts that the Company cannot quantify.