WILMINGTON, Del. (CN) — A federal judge sided with Fox News on Friday in a $250 million defamation suit brought against it by famous anti-Trump attorney Michael Avenatti.
U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas – a member of the Third Circuit sitting by designation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware – said in an 11-page ruling that news outlets are not liable for minor mistakes made when reporting on public figures or matters of public concern.
The former category includes Avenatti, who jumped into the public spotlight in 2018 as an outspoken critic of then-President Donald Trump. He famously represented adult film star Stormy Daniels in a defamation case against Trump.
After the Los Angeles Police Department arrested the lawyer for suspected domestic violence, several news outlets, including Fox News, covered the story.
Fox personality Laura Ingraham, for example, told her viewers that Avenatti was an “arrest waiting to happen” and that he “has a heck of a right hook.” Ingraham added that she was joking.
Additional coverage by the outlet included further information about Avenatti’s charges, commentary and details of the alleged victim’s condition following the incident.
Avenatti filed a $250 million claim against Fox, contending that its extensive reporting on his arrest amounted to slander and libel.
In his challenge, Avenatti pointed to Fox’s incorrect claim that his ex-wife was a victim, a mistake that the outlet corrected the following day.
Dismissing his claims on Friday, Bibas wrote, “Avenatti dislikes how Fox News covered his arrest. But he cannot overcome the truthfulness of the gist of Fox’s coverage—he was, after all, arrested for suspected domestic violence."
The Trump-appointed judge said that the majority of Fox’s reporting was substantially true, adding that Avenatti failed to prove that Fox or its employees knew of any inaccuracies in their reporting.
Avenatti’s final mistake, according to Bibas, was that he never asked the outlet for a retraction of any statement— a requirement under California state law for seeking damages in libel or slander cases.
"We are pleased with the court's swift decision in favor of Fox News," a spokesperson for the outlet said in a statement Friday. "Today's ruling is a victory for journalists everywhere, who should not be intimidated into silence when bullies like Michael Avenatti file baseless multimillion-dollar lawsuits."
Avenatti was convicted last year of threatening to extort Nike for millions of dollars. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
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