Rupert Murdoch Is Getting Married For The Fifth Time
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, 92, has announced he is getting married to former San Francisco police Chaplain Ann Lesley Smith, 66.
In an interview with his own New York Post, Murdoch said he proposed to Smith on St Patrick’s Day in New York City.
“I was very nervous,” he said in the interview, which was published Monday. “I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I’m happy.”
The Daily Beast had previously reported that Murdoch told friends he was considering proposing to Smith. This will be Murdoch’s fifth marriage.
Murdoch and Jerry Hall, his ex-wife of six years, agreed on a divorce last August.
Smith, the widow of country singer Chester Smith, told the Post she and Murdoch “share the same beliefs”.
“I’m a widow 14 years,” Smith said. “Like Rupert, my husband was a businessman. Worked for local papers, developed radio and TV stations and helped promote Univision. So I speak Rupert’s language.”
Murdoch said the two met at an event at his vineyard in Bel Air, California, last year. The two are planning their wedding for this summer.
“We’re both looking forward to spending the second half of our lives together,” he said.
The pair reportedly plan to split their time between the UK, California, Montana and New York.
This comes amid the $1.6 billion lawsuit Fox News is facing, brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion sued Fox in 2021 after several hosts promoted baseless claims that its voting machines were used to steal the election from former President Donald Trump the year before.
The case is slated to go on trial in mid-April.
Murdoch previously testified that some of the network’s anchors, including Sean Hannity, “endorsed” lies regarding the 2020 election.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” Murdoch said.
