Washington Redskins’ owner Daniel Synder re-files defamation lawsuit against Washington City Paper
Daniel “Dan” Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, National Football League (NFL), team, has re-filed a defamation lawsuit against the Washington City Paper.
The billionaire businessman originally filed his complaint in the state court of New York and sued the owner of the paper, Atalaya Capital Management.
Snyder has now filed his complaint in Washington D.C Superior Court and Atalaya Capital Management is no longer named as a defendant. Instead, he has sued the columnist that wrote the article, Dave McKenna, Washington City Paper and its publishing company,
Creative Loafing Inc., based in Tampa, Florida.
Michael s******r, editor of the Washington City Paper, said that the company supports McKenna and his cover story, “The Cranky Redskins Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder”, which prompted Snyder to sue them for $1 million for defamation, meaning ruining his image.
"We had a good, solid story and we will defend it vigorously", s******r said.
In his new complaint, Snyder focuses more on a dispute with a statement in the third paragraph of the article that says that Snyder got caught forging names as a telemarketer with Snyder Communications, a marketing company owned by Snyder. He has toned down
his previous complaint about anti-Semitism and McKenna’s supposed disrespect for Snyder’s wife.
Snyder’s attorneys said that the article said that he personally committed forgery.
"There is a difference between calling somebody a criminal personally and saying that he owned a company", said Lanny Davis, a former special counsel to President Bill Clinton and a friend of Snyder’s since 15 years.
s******r said that the story didn’t name Snyder as one of the forgers, saying, "I don't think that any reasonable person can imagine that the CEO of a multimillion-dollar or billion-dollar or enormous public corporation is engaging in the frontline work
of telemarketers. If you read the entire story, it makes it very clear".
The article is accompanied by a picture of Snyder with devil’s horns and a moustache and lists Snyder’s ‘many failings’ according to the newspaper.
Another Washington area newspaper published a letter by Snyder that said that he was re-filing the suit because the Washington City Paper, in Snyder’s words, "refused to issue an apology and retract false and damaging attacks on my integrity".
A hearing for the complaint has not yet been scheduled.
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