In a move that surprised absolutely nobody who understands how corporate boardrooms actually work, Fox News has officially folded. The judge in the Delaware Superior Court announced that a settlement has been reached in Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit. Instead of standing their ground and fighting the battle in open court, Fox decided to cough up a mind-boggling $787 million to make the problem go away quietly.

Immediately after the announcement, the corporate media vultures descended. CNN's resident hall monitor Jake Tapper took to the airwaves to mock Fox News' official statement on the settlement, declaring it was "difficult to say with a straight face." While Tapper's smug satisfaction is typical for the establishment media, he isn't entirely wrong about the sheer absurdity of the corporate damage control being deployed right now.

This massive payout of more than $787 million is a textbook example of corporate cowardice. For years, these massive media corporations act tough on television, but the second they face real legal pressure and the threat of their private text messages being read aloud in front of a jury, they write a massive check to save their own skins. It turns out that corporate legacy media is always more interested in protecting its own bottom line than actually standing up for any principles.

Legally, this whole circus was supposed to be a test of the New York Times Co. v. Sullivan standard, which makes it incredibly hard for public entities to win defamation suits unless they prove "actual malice." But instead of establishing a clear legal precedent, Fox decided to take the ultimate L and pay nearly $800 million. By settling, they managed to protect their top executives from having to testify under oath, proving once again that money talks and corporate executives walk.

The financial hit is obviously massive, but Fox Corporation will simply pass the cost along or write it off as the cost of doing business in the clown world of modern media. Meanwhile, the establishment media gets to run victory laps, pretending this is a great triumph for truth and justice, when in reality, it is just two massive corporate entities swapping phone numbers and bank routing details behind closed doors.

What this settlement really proves is that the entire mainstream media ecosystem is a theater production. One channel pretends to be the voice of the rebellion, the other pretends to be the voice of truth, but when the legal bills start piling up, they both behave exactly like the risk-averse corporate conglomerates they are. The audience is left holding the bag while the lawyers and executives cash their checks.

Ultimately, the Delaware judge's announcement brings this embarrassing saga to a close. Fox News gets to go back to its regular programming after paying over $787 million to quiet things down, and the mainstream media gets to farm content off of it for another news cycle. The establishment wins again, and the system keeps spinning.

Sources: Delaware Superior Court, Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network*, Case No. N21C-03-257 EMD Supreme Court of the United States, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan*, 376 U.S. 254 (1964)