Judge tosses Yashar Ali’s lawsuit against LA Magazine over unflattering profile

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A California judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday filed against Los Angeles Magazine by online activist/commentator Yashar Ali over an unflattering profile, finding Ali had failed to prosecute the case.

Published in 2021, the 6,000-word story called Ali a "Twitter power broker"  and a “political-operative-turned-social-media-muckraker." Ali, the article stated, had helped stir up online ire at the former LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, Sharon Osbourne and food writer Alison Roman, but also had a remarkable talent for cozying up to celebrities like Jake Tapper and comedian Kathy Griffin, whose house he lived in for some time.

Ali sued the magazine in 2022, accusing the reporter and editor of "journalistic malpractice," failing to "assign a dedicated fact-checker," and claiming the story caused "Ali’s ongoing clinical depression continued to deepen." Ali also said the profile had tarnished his reputation as a journalist and caused a downturn in the number of subscribers to his Twitter feed and Substack newsletters.

In an amended complaint, Ali added a breach of contract claim, accusing the reporter Peter Kiefer of promising to keep his lengthy interview with Ali on background — that he would only use it in the story with Ali's approval. Ali says Kiefer reneged on the promise, not only using quotes without Ali's approval but taking some of them out of context.

Los Angeles Magazine filed an anti-SLAPP motion, a legal maneuver often used by news outlets to quickly dismiss lawsuits aimed at chilling free speech. In January 2023, LA County Superior Court Judge Gregory Keosian dismissed the defamation and fraud claims but allowed the breach of contract claim to survive — though, he noted, Ali would likely be entitled only to "nominal damages" if he prevailed on such a claim.

In May 2023, Keosian awarded the magazine just under $40,000 in attorney's fees, which the magazine was entitled to seek as the prevailing party in the anti-SLAPP motion.

It's unlikely that the lawyers will be getting their money any time soon. In July 2023, a judge in a different case ordered that Ali's future earnings go to Ariadne Getty, granddaughter of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty, to pay off Ali's $232,769 debt to the heiress.

On Tuesday, LA County Superior Court Judge Lynne Hobbs, dismissed the last remains of Ali's LA Magazine lawsuit for failure to prosecute "in a reasonable manner," noting in her tentative ruling, "More than two years have elapsed since the case’s inception, and plaintiff has neither propounded discovery nor provided responses ordered by the court."

The ruling was made final without oral argument. Ali did not make an appearance.

Follow @hillelaron

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