Al Jazeera countersues Al Gore
September 22, 2014
By Colin Mann
Al Jazeera America is suing former US Vice President Al Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt, the former owners of Current TV, the network that became Al Jazeera America.
At issue is money that is being held in escrow. Gore and Hyatt sued the network mid-August saying that it was improperly withholding tens of millions of dollars placed in escrow when Al Jazeera acquired Current TV for $500 million in 2013.
According to Al Jazeera America, Gore and Hyatt’s suit “contains outright falsehoods, including fraud and bad faith claims as well as the false allegation that Gore and Hyatt had ‘serious reservations’ about selling their defunct company to Al Jazeera.”
David Boies, attorney for Gore and Hyatt, said in a statement: “Our complaint explains how Al Jazeera improperly tried to use our escrow funds to pay the distributors that it wants to carry its channel in the US. After trying to block our clients’ request that their entire complaint be made public, Al Jazeera has now responded by making false claims to defend its behaviour.”