Leftist outlet Media Matters is facing financial struggles over lawsuits from X owner Elon Musk and legal fees related to investigations by the Trump administration.
The nonprofit “watchdog” group owes approximately $15 million, largely due to legal action by Musk and probes from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as Republican state attorneys general, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Musk’s lawsuit came after a Media Matters story in 2023 claimed that his X social media platform was placing ads for major corporations alongside Nazi-related content, The Daily Wire previously reported. Companies such as Apple and IBM pulled advertisements from X because of the story.
A Musk press release said the outlet “completely misrepresented the real user experience on X, in another attempt to undermine freedom of speech and mislead advertisers.”
The Times reported that Musk has continued pursuing the lawsuit, refusing settlements and appealing or filing elsewhere if Media Matters were to win in court. Musk even filed lawsuits in Ireland and Singapore.
The outlet is reducing its staff and trying to raise money from donors, the Times reported. Although publicly, Media Matters says “it has no plans to close,” sources told the Times it is considering shutting down as a last resort.
In May of this year, the FTC launched an investigation into the outlet over reports that it illegally coordinated advertiser boycotts against X, The Daily Wire previously reported.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, appointed by President Donald Trump, had signaled potential action in December, saying the agency “must prosecute any unlawful collusion between online platforms, and confront advertiser boycotts which threaten competition,” according to Reuters.
Media Matters also faced investigations from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. A federal court blocked the Texas probe, and Missouri agreed to drop its inquiry; however, the outlet still incurred almost $2 million in legal fees, the Times reported.
Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, said the legal problems were “a revenge campaign against Media Matters intended to stymie or stop us entirely from exercising our constitutional rights,” the Times reported.
The financial struggles come as multiple organizations have settled with the Trump administration. CBS News paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump, who alleged that the outlet deceptively edited a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Columbia University agreed to pay a $200 million settlement over its handling of anti-Israel protests.
“Unlike some major media entities that have recently caved to pressure, we understand that this battle is larger than us,” Carusone told the Times in a statement. “That’s why we continue to carry out our mission and fight in court.”
However, the outlet is facing financial difficulties despite its extensive list of top Democratic donors, which includes billionaire George Soros.
A leaked list of donors revealed that the outlet has received millions in donations from Deborah Simon, the daughter of billionaire shopping mall developer Melvin Simon, and Bain Capital co-chairman Joshua Bekenstein and his wife, Anita. The Daily Wire previously reported on this. Both Simon and Bekenstein were among the top 50 political donors in the 2022 midterms.
Media Matters had raised $16.5 million in 2022, with Carusone collecting a salary of $406,000.
The outlet describes itself as combating misinformation and providing “resources to rebut false claims and to take direct action against offending media institutions.” However, the left-leaning N.Y. Times said its mission is “to help Democrats and undermine Republicans.”
Media Matters has repeatedly attacked Republicans and conservative groups, including The Daily Wire. In 2022, it attempted to cancel Daily Wire host Matt Walsh.
“I will never surrender even a single inch of ground to a pitchfork mob full of degenerate idiots,” Walsh responded at the time.
