Tag: defamation

Robby Starbuck Sues Meta for Defamation Over its AI Generating ‘False’ Statements About Criminal Ties to J6 and More, Says Their Apology Isn’t Enough

Rachel Alexander
Robby Starbuck

Meta Platforms Inc., previously Facebook, issued a statement on Tuesday apologizing to filmmaker and former congressional candidate Robby Starbuck after he sued the company for defamation over statements its AI generated that Starbuck criminally to J6. However, Starbuck said in a post on Thursday that the apology wasn’t enough.

In his complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, Starbuck said Meta AI claimed that he was charged with a crime from J6 after entering the U.S. Capitol and filming video — but Starbuck was not at J6. Starbuck’s complaint contained numerous statements from Meta AI that he said were also false, including that he is a Holocaust denier, white nationalist, and suggested that his children be removed from him and placed with someone who doesn’t object to transgender children and DEI.

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Election Integrity Attorney Stefanie Lambert Arrested on Unrelated Bench Warrant After She Turned Over ‘Criminal’ Documents from Dominion to Law Enforcement

Rachel Alexander
Stefanie Lambert

Stefanie Lambert, an election integrity attorney in Michigan, was arrested on Monday in Washington D.C. for failing to appear at a court hearing in Michigan involving charges against her for allegedly breaching voting machines. After agreeing to surrender to authorities in Michigan, Lambert was released on $10,000 bond. Lambert said in court filings and a statement that she failed to show up for the hearing due to a miscommunication with her former counsel, who told her the meeting was canceled. 

Lambert was arrested after taking part in a hearing Monday representing her client, former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, against a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems filed against him in 2021. Dominion sued Byrne for predicting months before the 2020 election that there would be illegal election activity to change the results of the election, and named Dominion as one of the actors involved.

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‘Absolutely Ridiculous’: Trump Vows to Appeal Defamation Trial Verdict

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Former President Donald Trump on Friday posted on Truth Social that he would appeal the verdict against him in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.

A Manhattan jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages Friday after he criticized her during a May 2023 town hall on CNN after he was found liable for defamation and sexual battery in a separate trial. In response to the verdict, Trump vowed to appeal the jury’s decision.

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Jury Determines Rudy Giuliani Owes Nearly $150 Million in Damages in Defamation Case

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A jury determined that former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani owes nearly $150 million in damages to two Georgia election workers for making defamatory statements about them after the 2020 election, according to NBC.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found Giuliani defamed Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss in August. After a four day trial and over 9 hours of deliberation, a Washington, D.C., jury reached a verdict awarding the two women $148 million in damages, according to NBC News.

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Former Yale Student Accused of Rape Can Sue His Accuser for Defamation, Court Rules

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A former Yale student who was acquitted of rape in 2018, and later kicked out of the college, can sue his accuser for defamation over statements the accuser made during a school hearing, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in June, according to the New York Post.

Saifullah Khan sued Yale in 2019 for $110 million, and has been attempting to bring his accuser into the lawsuit, according to the Post. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled ruled that he can sue the accuser, and that she shouldn’t received “qualified immunity,” which prevents people from being sued over statements in judicial cases, from her testimony that Khan raped her in 2015.

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Acquitted Yale Student Can Sue Rape Accuser for Defamation: Court

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A former Yale University student who beat back rape accusations can sue his accuser for defamation, the State of Connecticut Supreme Court ruled recently.

Saifullah Khan’s lawsuit can proceed after the court ruled on June 27 that the former Yalie, who was expelled, can sue his accuser because the university’s sexual assault proceedings did not resemble actual judicial procedures.

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Former Arizona Election Attorney Starts Process to Sue Kris Mayes for Defamation, Demands $2 Million

Rachel Alexander

Jennifer Wright, who served as the Election Integrity Unit (EIU) civil attorney under Attorney General Mark Brnovich, started the process this past week to sue current Attorney General Kris Mayes for defamation by filing a Notice of Claim. Someone from Mayes’ office told the media that Wright was fired or forced to resign, but Wright has produced evidence showing she resigned voluntarily. It is common when a new administration from a different political party takes over an office to fire high-level appointees from the previous administration.

“Over the past few years, I’ve become jaded by people in positions of power abusing that power for partisan gain & further subjugation of the American people,” Wright tweeted. “On 1/5/23 I was shocked when an outright lie was propagated by Arizona’s Chief Legal Officer, @krismayes, about me.”

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Stephen Richer, Who Sued Kari Lake for Defamation over Election Fraud Allegations, Brought up Similar Concerns Previously

Rachel Alexander

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer sued Kari Lake for defamation on June 22 over her statements alleging election fraud, but Merissa Hamilton, founder of EZAZ who is managing an effort to chase early ballots for Lake, pointed out that Richer has made similar allegations himself previously. The Maricopa County Recorder’s lawsuit is being paid for by the Protect Democracy Project, which is described by InfluenceWatch as “a left-of-center litigation organization created to oppose the policies of President Donald Trump.”

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Jury Holds Trump Liable for Battery, Defamation in E. Jean Carroll Case

Just the News

A jury held former President Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation after hearing arguments in a civil trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who said Trump raped her in a department store during the 1990s. Trump’s conduct was specifically determined to have been sexual abuse. The jury awarded roughly $2 million in damages to Carroll for the battery count, according to CNN. Carroll will also receive $3 million for the defamation count.

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Commentary: Trump Takes Aim at New York Times v. Sullivan

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As readers of this space know, former President Donald J. Trump is suing CNN for defamation. Trump claims in his suit that CNN defamed him by repeatedly likening him to Hitler and, in particular, by claiming that his complaints about the integrity of the 2020 election are nothing but a “Big Lie,” such as was used by Hitler to win and maintain power. For its part, CNN claimed in a motion for dismissal filed over the holidays that, even if it said everything Trump alleges, he still has no case. According to CNN, its comparisons of Trump to Hitler were mere “opinion” and “rhetorical hyperbole,” not the kind of factually false derogatory claims for which one can sue for defamation.

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KTAR Refuses to Run Ad That Says ‘Is Katie Hobbs A Racist? I Think So,’ Despite Two Juries Who Found Hobbs’ Firing of a Black Staffer Was Racist

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona-based CEO of a precious metals brokerage firm has been told by a local radio station that he cannot air ads stating that he believes Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor, is a racist.

Jim Clark, CEO of Phoenix-based Republic Monetary Exchange, told The Arizona Sun Times he felt so strongly about supporting Kari Lake for governor that he created his own ads, paying almost double the rate of ads for his own company to run them on KTAR. The middle-of-the-road radio station was running a barrage of pro-Hobbs ads but he hadn’t heard any in favor of Lake, so he wanted to create some balance.

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Oberlin College Pays Out Millions After Launching Defamation Campaign Against Bakery

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Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, announced Thursday that it will pay a local bakery $36.59 million after a legal defamation battle.

The lawsuit began in 2016, when Allyn Gibson Jr. accused a black student of stealing a bottle of wine from Gibson’s Bakery, causing the college to launch a defamation campaign which included the vice president of the college calling the bakery racist. The Ohio Supreme Court declined the college’s appeal of a court’s previous judgment, causing the college to decide Thursday to pay the bakery.

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Oberlin Loses Appeal After Defaming Local Bakery

Peter D'Abrosca

An appellate court this week upheld a lower court’s ruling that a local bakery was defamed by Oberlin College, a private liberal arts schools in Ohio.

In 2019, Oberlin was ordered to pay the maximum of $11 million in compensatory damages, $33 million in punitive damages, plus more than $6 million in attorneys fees to Gibson’s Bakery, a town staple that had served students at the school for generations, and even had a contract to sell some of its products to the school. 

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‘Cancel the Cancel Culture’: Sauk Rapids Bar Owner Sues Liberal Group for Defamation

Anthony Gockowski

The owner of a Sauk Rapids bar and restaurant has sued a local activist group for defamation after it boasted about getting the business removed from a tourism website.

Rollie Hogrefe, owner of Rollie’s Rednecks and Longnecks, filed a defamation and tortious interference lawsuit Wednesday against the “radical agitators” of UniteCloud and its executive director Natalie Ringsmuth.

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