In The Know

Rupert Murdoch calls off engagement to Ann Lesley Smith

FILE - Rupert Murdoch introduces Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the Herman Kahn Award Gala, in New York, Oct. 30, 2018.

Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch has called off his pending engagement to Ann Lesley Smith, The Hill has confirmed.

Murdoch, 92, had announced his engagement to Smith, 66, a former model, singer and radio talk show host, last month.

Murdoch, who has been married and divorced four times, at the time told The New York Post, which he owns, that he was nervous in proposing to Smith, saying he “dreaded falling in love.”

News of their split was first reported by Vanity Fair, which cited a source who said Murdoch had “become increasingly uncomfortable with Smith’s outspoken evangelical views.”

A spokesperson for Murdoch declined to comment.

Murdoch divorced actress Jerry Hall, to whom he had been married to since 2016, last year.