Dominion of Melchizedek - Lawsuit Against CBS

Lawsuit Against CBS

In April 2000, CBS's 60 Minutes II aired a report critical of the Dominion of Melchizedek. Mark Pedley claims that, prior to the program being aired, he had a conversation with 60 Minutes II producer Janet Klein, in which Klein promised Pedley fair coverage of DoM. In the opening of the program, CBS stated that Pedley was a prophet. During the interview, Bob Simon asked Pedley if he was a prophet. Pedley replied, "I try to avoid making any predictions about the future."

After the CBS broadcast, DoM demanded a retraction of statements made during the program. As a result of the bad press, DoM filed a lawsuit (in its own judicial system) on 2000-05-09 seeking $1 billion in damages for libel against CBS, naming Klein, Simon, and CBS as the defendants. On 2000-07-25, DoM entered a default judgement against CBS, claiming that the company failed to respond to the lawsuit. Because of the lack of jurisdiction, CBS has refused to acknowledge the judgement.