Posts Tagged ‘Michael Kassan’
Context is Everything in Determining if a Statement is Defamatory
A recent holding in the Los Angeles Superior Court beautifully illustrates a point I have made here many times, and have explained to innumerable potential clients. But apparently, some attorneys still don’t embrace this reality.
Here are the facts, as set forth in the Court’s ruling, with additional information from news sources:
Michael Kassan is the former CEO and Chairman of MediaLink. According to its website, MediaLink is “the media & marketing industry’s most trusted and connected advisor, . . . specializing in defining the optimal path forward.”
MediaLink is a United Talent Agency (“UTA”) company, and apparently there was some acrimony between Kassan and UTA. Kassan sued UTA lawyer Bryan J. Freedman in Los Angeles Superior Court for slander and libel stemming from a statement the attorney made to Deadline (a news publication) in which he called Kassan a “pathological liar.” Freedman responded with an anti-SLAPP motion.
Freedman’s statement was found to satisfy the first prong of the anti-SLAPP analysis, both because it was “made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a … judicial body,” and because it was a matter of public interest because the dispute between Kassan and UTA was extensively covered in the media.
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