Perhaps emboldened by a recent series of legal wins, attorneys for former President Donald Trump announced a $1.5 billion defamation lawsuit against 20 prominent media outlets.
The suit claims multiple media outlets intentionally misrepresented the financial strength and viability of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social. The defamation suit charges the misrepresentations cost the outlet advertising dollars and a potential merger.
🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
JUST IN – Trump's social media platform Truth Social files defamation lawsuit against twenty media companies. pic.twitter.com/Zfn3YMcmWE
— 💢⚜️ S I G ⚜️💢 (@PURE_BL00D2) November 21, 2023
The complaint was filed by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and claimed multiple media companies conspired to defame Truth Social by reporting it lost $73 million since the platform’s inception.
TMTG attorneys claim the misreporting constituted an “unprecedented and seemingly coordinated media campaign.” In support of their claim, TMTG attorneys noted that all 20 outlets “reported the exact same false number within approximately 24 hours of one another, each citing to a public Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filing, in which the mystery $73 million loss appears nowhere.”
“This was a coordinated effort to damage TMTG’s reputation, degrade the firm’s financial standing, freeze its access to capital, and torpedo the anticipated merger between Digital World Acquisition Corporation (“DWAC”) and TMTG,” a TMTG spokesperson said.
Ultimately, the reporting halted a potentially multibillion dollar merger between TMTG and DWAC (Digital World Association Corporation).
Newsweek reported the media groups listed in the suit are:
- Newsweek
- The Hollywood Reporter
- The New York Daily News
- MSNBC
- CNBC
- Forbes
- Axios
- Rolling Stone magazine
- The Hill
- The Guardian
- The Daily Mail
- The Miami Herald newspaper
- Deadline Hollywood
- Benzinga
- MarketWatch
- The Daily Beast
- Gizmodo
- Mediaite
- Salon
- Bhave
Many believe additional companies will be named in the suit.
BREAKING REPORT: Truth Social FILES MASSIVE DEFAMATION LAWSUIT targeting twenty media companies.
More companies expected to be added to the suit in the coming days.
Companies included in the suit: Miami Herald, Reuters, Newsweek, MSNBC, Axios, The Hill, Forbes, The Daily… pic.twitter.com/tEZJEH8fmU
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) November 21, 2023
The lawsuit asserts each company listed in the complaint is guilty of one count of defamation and one of injurious falsehood. It asks for damages of $1.5 billion and injunctive relief “prohibiting the publication or republication of the defamatory statements.”
The suit also recommends a jury trial.
