Kevin O'Leary and Fox News face a defamation suit after the Shark Tank star accused Utah data center critics of being Chinese Communist Party proxies.
"Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary faces a defamation lawsuit after accusing opponents of his Utah data center project of being foreign-backed agents.
Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, and two of the groups' founders sued O'Leary and Fox News in a Utah federal district court Wednesday. The complaint alleges O'Leary falsely claimed the groups were proxies for the Chinese Communist Party during at least 10 media appearances between May 11 and June 3.
In one Fox News segment, O'Leary accused Elevate Strategies cofounders Gabi Finlayson and Jackie Morgan of being "proxies for the Chinese Government." Finlayson is a plaintiff in the suit. The complaint also includes a separate defamation claim from Alliance for a Better Utah and its founder, Joshua Kanter, against Fox News for airing the comments.
A Fox News Media spokesperson said the network would "vigorously defend" against the suit and that it "publicly corrected the record on every program where on-air guest Kevin O'Leary's comments were made, all of which was extensively publicized."
O'Leary has sought to walk back some of his allegations. In a June 25 Instagram post, he wrote: "Recently I appeared on various news programs and would like to clarify that I have no evidence that Alliance for a Better Utah, Elevate Strategies, Gabrielle Finlayson, Taylor Knuth or Josh Kanter are funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party."
The plaintiffs say O'Leary's comments caused "severe reputational damage and significant economic harm," including lost clients and business opportunities. The suit seeks monetary and punitive damages; no dollar amount was specified.
"Our clients were exercising their right to express their opinions about the future of their community," Matthew Platkin, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. "Rather than respond to their concerns, Kevin O'Leary chose to launch a national smear campaign built on absurd falsehoods that Fox News repeatedly affirmed and amplified. This lawsuit seeks to ensure there is accountability when powerful people weaponize lies to silence critics."
Jeffrey Neiman, an attorney for O'Leary, called the case a "cash grab" and said the plaintiffs declined an invitation to discuss the project. "The plaintiffs have put their operations, funding, and coordination squarely at issue," Neiman wrote. "We welcome that, and we look forward to discovery and uncovering the facts related to the misinformation campaign against the data center in Utah."
At the center of the dispute is the Stratos Project, a hyperscale data center campus near Great Salt Lake initially approved for 40,000 acres. Full buildout could require up to 9 gigawatts of power. Residents have raised concerns about water use, air quality, noise, traffic, and the project's approval process.
The backlash prompted Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to issue an executive order tightening rules for data center development, covering water resources, wildlife protection, utility rates, and public participation. Alliance for a Better Utah and five state residents filed a separate lawsuit in June seeking to halt Stratos by challenging the approval process.
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