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Commitments and Contingencies
 3 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
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, 2024 and June 30, 2024 were approximately $39 billion and $38 billion, respectively. The increase from June 30, 2024 was primarily due to sports programming rights.
Contingencies
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 below 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.
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 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 2024 Form 10-K under the heading “The Transaction”), 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 $65 million as of June 30, 2024 and approximately $70 million as of September 30, 2024.
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 seeking $2.7 billion in damages and Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Dominion”) in March 2021 seeking $1.6 billion in damages. On March 31, 2023, the court in the Dominion case issued its rulings on summary judgment motions that were unfavorable to the Company. Following these rulings, on April 18, 2023, the Company and its subsidiary, Fox News Network, LLC, entered
into a Release and Settlement Agreement with Dominion pursuant to which the parties agreed to resolve the lawsuits among them. The Company paid an aggregate of approximately $800 million to settle this and a related lawsuit in April 2023.
The Company continues to believe the Smartmatic and other pending lawsuits alleging defamation or disparagement are without merit and intends to defend against them vigorously, including through any appeals. The Smartmatic case has been stayed by operation of New York law due to the death of Lou Dobbs. At this time, a trial in the Smartmatic lawsuit is not expected to commence until 2025. The Company is unable to predict the final outcome of these matters and has determined that a loss in the Smartmatic case is neither probable nor reasonably estimable. There can be no assurance that the ultimate resolution of these pending matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
On April 11, 2023 and April 20, 2023, stockholders of the Company filed derivative lawsuits in the Delaware Court of Chancery (the “Chancery Court”) against certain directors of the Company, which the Chancery Court subsequently consolidated into one matter captioned In re Fox Corporation Deriv. Litig., C.A. No. 2023-0418 (Del.Ch.). Two additional derivative lawsuits were subsequently filed by the Company’s stockholders in the Chancery Court on September 12, 2023 against certain directors and officers of the Company and are part of the consolidated lawsuit. Each of the lawsuits names the Company as a nominal defendant. On April 26, 2024, the lead plaintiffs filed an amended complaint that alleges that certain directors and officers, as applicable, breached their fiduciary duties by allowing the Company’s news channel to air allegations regarding election fraud in connection with the 2020 U.S. Presidential election, which resulted in significant defamation litigation. The amended complaint seeks orders awarding damages in favor of the Company; directing the Company to reform and improve its policies and procedures; and awarding the plaintiffs attorneys' fees and costs. On June 25, 2024, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, and a hearing on the motion is scheduled for November 2024. The Company intends to vigorously contest the lawsuit.
Actions and Claims Arising from Alleged Misuse of Personal Information
The Company and its subsidiaries, including Tubi, Inc. (“Tubi”), are from time to time parties to actions and arbitration claims arising from their alleged misuse of personal information. In June 2023, a putative class action lawsuit titled Campos v. Tubi was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division (the “District Court”), alleging that Tubi shared viewer information with third parties in violation of the privacy protection provisions of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act. In February 2024, the District Court denied Tubi’s motion to compel arbitration and motion to dismiss, and Tubi appealed those rulings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Following a determination that Campos lacked standing to sue Tubi, plaintiff’s counsel filed a new putative class action titled Gregory v. Tubi with the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Winnebago County, Illinois (the “Illinois State Court”). On July 26, 2024 the parties entered into a Settlement and Release Agreement to resolve all claims, which includes the dismissal of the Campos lawsuit and settlement of the Gregory lawsuit. The Company is unable to predict the final outcome of this matter until the Illinois State Court has approved the Settlement and Release Agreement, but has established an accrued liability for the settlement amount. If approved, the settlement will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The Company intends to vigorously defend against any other actions and arbitration claims arising from the alleged misuse of personal information that have not been settled or resolved by the Gregory settlement. The Company is unable to predict the final outcome of these other actions and arbitration claims and has determined that a loss in these matters is neither probable nor reasonably estimable. There can be no assurance that the ultimate resolution of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Other
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 Transaction (as defined in Note 1—Description of Business and Basis of Presentation in the 2024 Form 10-K under the heading “The Transaction”)) 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 2024 Form 10-K under the heading “The Transaction”) 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 IRS in amounts that the Company cannot quantify.