{"id":3725,"date":"2026-07-15T22:38:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2026-07-15T22:38:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:38:24","slug":"olearys-china-conspiracy-claims-spark-federal-defamation-case-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3725","title":{"rendered":"O\u2019Leary\u2019s China conspiracy claims spark federal defamation case in Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Two Utah residents have filed a defamation lawsuit against \u201cShark Tank\u201d star Kevin O\u2019Leary and Fox News Network over comments he made on national television and social media following the approval of his controversial AI data center in Box Elder County <\/p>\n

Read more Senate grills Trump\u2019s national intelligence nominee ahead of confirmation vote<\/a><\/p>\n

Gabi Finlayson, political strategist and founder of Elevate Strategies, and Josh Kanter, nonprofit founder of Alliance for a Better Utah, filed the lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday, claiming O\u2019Leary\u2019s comments sparked online harassment and conspiracy theories that damaged their reputations and businesses, including false claims that they were working for the Chinese Communist Party, per a press release obtained by the Deseret News<\/p>\n

In May, O\u2019Leary told Fox News\u2019 Maria Bartiromo that he believed China was fueling the pushback against his data center proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, who would want us to stop building our electrical grid? Who would want to stop us from having compute capacity to develop AI? Which adversary would want that? There\u2019s only one. It\u2019s China,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He then proceeded to call out Finalyson and Kanter by name, followed by, \u201cWhat are you doing? And why? Who\u2019s paying you? \u2026 These are proxies for the Chinese government. \u2026 And if they\u2019re not, because I want them to be able to defend their name, Taylor (Knuth), Josh, and Gabi, come out, come out wherever you are. Let\u2019s audit your books and let\u2019s show the people of Utah you actually care about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the press release, Finlayson and Kanter\u2019s legal counsel accused O\u2019Leary of creating a \u201cweek-long smear campaign\u201d against their clients. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur clients were exercising their right to express their opinions about the future of their community,\u201d attorney Matthew J. Platkin said via press release. \u201cRather than respond to their concerns, Kevin O\u2019Leary chose to launch a national smear campaign built on absurd falsehoods that Fox News repeatedly affirmed and amplified.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: The blind spot in the talk about Trump Accounts<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the press release, O\u2019Leary posted on X only after receiving a legal demand from the plaintiffs, stating that he had no evidence to support his claims that they were funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n

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pic.twitter.com\/9wzF9Fz0Lu<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kevin O’Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) June 25, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

O\u2019Leary\u2019s attorney said his client would bring forth counterclaims to the lawsuit when appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201c(O\u2019Leary) clarified his remarks weeks ago and invited these organizations and individuals to sit down with him and discuss the project directly. They declined. Offered dialogue, they chose a courtroom \u2014 because this was never about reputation,\u201d attorney Jeffrey Neiman said in a statement obtained by the Deseret News. \u201cIt is a cash grab, and the second one: within days of the statements at issue, the plaintiffs were fundraising off of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cBy way of background, who organizes and funds coordinated opposition to American AI infrastructure is a matter of serious national concern. Sen. Tom Cotton has asked the Department of Justice to investigate foreign influence efforts targeting U.S. data centers, including the network funded by Neville Roy Singham.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox News Media said in a statement that it intends to vigorously defend against the lawsuit, arguing that it \u201cpublicly corrected the record on every program where on-air guest Kevin O\u2019Leary\u2019s comments were made, all of which was extensively publicized.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for O\u2019Leary\u2019s actions. <\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: The hidden strings of foreign funds to universities must stop<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Legal counsel describes O\u2019Leary\u2019s campaign as a weekslong smear built on what they call absurd falsehoods repeatedly amplified by Fox News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-utah"],"yoast_head":"\nO\u2019Leary\u2019s China conspiracy claims spark federal defamation case in Utah - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3725\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"O\u2019Leary\u2019s China conspiracy claims spark federal defamation case in Utah - 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