Central European News and its founder Michael Leidig’s lawsuit over BuzzFeed referring to him as the “King of Bullshit News” was dismissed, Press Gazette reported.
Matt Mittenthal, a spokesperson for BuzzFeed News, told iMediaEthics: “The federal courts have now twice rejected this baseless lawsuit, and twice found no falsehoods in the original BuzzFeed News article cited by the plaintiffs. Truthful journalism has prevailed once again, and we’re glad this litigation is coming to an end.”
Harry Wise, CEN and Leidig’s lawyer, told iMediaEthics, “A decision that credits one side’s evidence and devalues the other side’s violates the basic rules that should be applied on a motion for summary judgment. The idea that the First Amendment prevents a libel plaintiff from creating an issue of fact as to the libel’s truth or falsity by testifying that he does not do the bad thing that the libel accuses him of doing is simply wrong–not supported by the Celle case that the panel invokes or by any other authority. I am preparing a petition to ask the panel to reconsider its decision, and, failing that, to have the full court consider the question en banc, because the decision is contrary to other decisions in the Second Circuit and elsewhere.”
David Adams
Article URL : https://www.imediaethics.org/lawsuit-over-king-of-bullshit-news-story-dismissed-again/