Al Gore filed a lawsuit against Al Jazeera's alleged fraud and breach of contract regarding a deal with its Current TV cable channel.
Al Jazeera refused to pay "tens of millions of dollars" to previous shareholders of Current TV, which is owned by Gore and Joel Hyatt. Gore and Hyatt are suing for the shareholder's sake.
Al Jezeera, a Middle Eastern media group backed by the government of Qatar, purchased Current TV for $500 million in January 2013 for access to 40 million households for the launch of Al Jazeera America, a 24-hour news network.
"Al Jazeera America wants to give itself a discount on the purchase price that was agreed to nearly two years ago," Gore's attorney, David Boies said. "We are asking the court to order Al Jazeera America to stop wrongfully withholding the escrow funds that belong to Current's former shareholders."
Al Jazeera America's spokeswomen, Dawn Bridges said that the network was looking into the complaint and "may have further comment once they've fully reviewed everything."
The court sealed the complaint after the lawsuit was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery in Wilmington, but Gore and other shareholders petitioned to make the case public, further waging the war.
Al Jazeera America is now available in 60 million households and has an average of 17,000 viewers according to data based on viewership from its launch through the end of May. Fox New received an average of 1.7 million prime-time views and MSNBC received 626,000 during the same time frame.
Even though the network is still in its early days, it hired 900 journalists across the U.S. to compete with the major news networks as an alternative to sensational coverage. The recent warfare in Gaza and the protests in Ferguson, Missouri have attracted more viewers.
