Al Jazeera came out strongly today against former Vice President Al Gore‘s lawsuit against the network.
Reuters reports the network is rejecting Gore’s claims that they owe former Current TV shareholders millions of dollars in escrow funds.
Al Jazeera, which bought Current TV for about $500 million, said the Gore-Hyatt group had promised to indemnify Al Jazeera if, after the sale, the company was sued for breach of any contracts while Gore and Hyatt ran the channel. Third parties contend that Current TV had breached contracts while the group ran the channel, Al Jazeera America said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that assurances by Gore and Hyatt that Current TV’s contract compliance were “inaccurate.” “Rather than indemnifying Al Jazeera as they were required to do, Gore and Hyatt have resorted to a preemptive lawsuit and lawyer-driven public relations maneuvers,” Al Jazeera said. David Boies, the attorney representing Gore and Hyatt, said last week the group asked the court to order Al Jazeera America to “stop wrongfully withholding the escrow funds that belong to Current’s former shareholders.” Al Jazeera countered that the money in the fund was intended to indemnify Al Jazeera. It also said indemnification claims were more than the amount held in escrow.
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Today marks Al Jazeera America’s one-year anniversary.