Univision Lawyer Says Deadspin Defamation Lawsuit Wasting Money - WSJ

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9/28/2017 Univision Lawyer Says Deadspin Defamation Lawsuit Wasting Money - WSJ

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BANKRUPTCY Univision Lawyer Says Deadspin Defamation Lawsuit Wasting Money

Bankruptcy judge will decide whether Las Vegas oddsmaker’s suit can go forward

Univision Communications says it is wasting money to defeat a defamation lawsuit targeting an article on Deadspin, which it purchased out of bankruptcy from Gawker. PHOTO: MIKE NELSON/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

By Jonathan Randles Sept. 28, 2017 6:59 p.m. ET

Univision Communications Inc. says it is wasting time and money to defeat a defamation lawsuit that targets an article on Deadspin, a sports website the company purchased out of bankruptcy from Gawker Media LLC.

Univision’s Gizmodo Media Group LLC, which runs Deadspin, claims the lawsuit is blocked by a section of law that protects businesses that purchase assets from bankrupt companies and shouldn’t have been filed.

“They completely wasted our time and our money. A lot of money,” said Peter Gilhuly, a Latham & Watkins LLP lawyer representing Gizmodo, at a hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy in New York.

Lawyers for RJ Bell, the Las Vegas-based oddsmaker suing Deadspin, said that if a judge rules the lawsuit is, in fact, blocked by law, they will modify the complaint to try to get around the roadblock created by the sale of the sports website in bankruptcy.

Ultimately, Judge Stuart Bernstein will decide whether the defamation lawsuit can proceed against the company and the journalist, Ryan Goldberg. Gizmodo has separately asked the judge to force Mr. Bell to reimburse the company for the attorney’s fees and costs incurred in defending against the lawsuit.

The case is one of two lawsuits Gizmodo is currently facing that arise from its $135 million acquisition of Gawker Media blogs last year. A self-described life coach has also sued Gizmodo and journalists over an article published last year on Jezebel.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/univision-lawyer-says-deadspin-defamation-lawsuit-wasting-money-1506639573 1/3 9/28/2017 Univision Lawyer Says Deadspin Defamation Lawsuit Wasting Money - WSJ Both lawsuits are RELATED COVERAGE being overseen by

Univision Says Lawsuit Over Deadspin Story Intended to Scare Journalists (Aug. 21) Charles Harder, the Univision Says It Will Fight Defamation Suit Over Deadspin Story (July 6) lawyer who Hulk Hogan’s Lawyer Helms New Suit Against Gawker’s Successor (June 23) represented Hulk Hogan in his successful lawsuit against Gawker Media over publication of excerpts from the professional wrestler’s sex tape, the ruling on which forced the company into bankruptcy and out of business. Mr. Hogan’s case was secretly financed by billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel who had been angered by an article published nearly a decade earlier that identified him as gay and he has said violated his privacy.

Mr. Bell, the founder of the of the sports-betting-advice website, Pregame.com, sued Deadspin in June. He is seeking at least $10 million plus punitive damages.

His lawyers told Judge Bernstein that their client should be permitted to move forward in state court with his lawsuit and be given the opportunity to present his case at trial. Univision has claimed the lawsuit is intended to intimidate journalists, which Mr. Harder has denied.

Mr. Bell continues to suffer damages every day the article remains online, said Jonathan Flaxer, a bankruptcy lawyer representing Mr. Bell before Judge Bernstein. Mr. Flaxer said the decision to bring a defamation lawsuit isn’t an easy one to make because litigation attracts unwanted attention so plaintiffs often wait before bringing legal action. The primary goal of the lawsuit is to get the article taken down, he said.

“We had hoped they would see the light and bring it down. They didn’t,” Mr. Flaxer said. The lawsuit alleges the Deadspin article includes false and libelous statements that have harmed Mr. Bell’s reputation and cost him business.

Aside from Gizmodo, Mr. Bell’s lawsuit also challenges legal protections for former writers and editors of Gawker Media. Gawker Media’s chapter 11 plan includes liability releases for its former employees for content they produced before the Univision sale closed in September 2016, months after the Deadspin article was published. To obtain this protection, writers and editors agreed during the bankruptcy to give up their rights to indemnification from Gawker Media for claims that may arise from work they produced for its blogs.

Sharon Levine, a Saul Ewing LLP bankruptcy lawyer who is representing Mr. Goldberg, the article’s author, and who has represented other former Gawker Media writers, said the release shields Mr. Goldberg for any claim arising from his work on the article. Ms. Levine said journalists at the Univision-owned Jezebel have also now been sued for old articles they produced for Gawker Media.

The releases give writers the same protection they would have ordinarily received for their work had Gawker Media been in a position to continue indemnifying employees, she said.

“There is a fear by the writers that this is a reoccurring problem,” Ms. Levine said. Media organizations including the Society of Professional Journalists and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have also filed a court brief urging Judge Bernstein to enforce the releases in favor of Gawker Media writers and editors. Univision has said it is covering the cost of Mr. Goldberg’s legal expenses.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/univision-lawyer-says-deadspin-defamation-lawsuit-wasting-money-1506639573 2/3 9/28/2017 Univision Lawyer Says Deadspin Defamation Lawsuit Wasting Money - WSJ Mr. Bell’s lawyers argue the lawsuit isn’t covered by the release because he didn’t receive a distribution under Gawker’s liquidation plan.

Judge Bernstein didn’t rule on the matter Thursday and ordered lawyers for Messrs. Goldberg and Bell to conduct discovery related to the scope of the release, which he said is ambiguous. He scheduled a hearing on the issue for December.

Write to Jonathan Randles at [email protected]

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