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Case 18-2868, Document 276, 08/09/2019, 2628224, Page46 of 77
it took down the statement, “we stand by everything we said, which was sourced from current,
credible news accounts.” 973 F. Supp. 2d at 474.
Adelson sued. He alleged that the statement was defamatory and that the press release
constituted a republication of the defamatory statement. This court held that the statement
contained only constitutionally protected opinion and was nonactionable. The court then rejected
the defamation claim based on republication: “‘[A] mere reference to another writing that
contains defamatory matter does not constitute an actionable repetition or republication.” Jd.
(quoting Goforth v. Avemco Life Ins. Co., 368 F.2d 25, 28 n.7 (4th Cir.1966)). This is the settled
tule. See In re Philadelphia Newspapers, LLC, 690 F.3d 161, 175 (3d Cir. 2012), as corrected
(Oct. 25, 2012) (“under traditional principles of republication, a mere reference to an article,
regardless how favorable it is as long as it does not restate the defamatory material, does not
republish the material”); Salyer v. S. Poverty Law Ctr., Inc., 701 F. Supp. 2d 912, 916 (W.D. Ky.
2009) (“[T]he common thread of traditional republication is that it presents the material, in its
entirety, before a new audience. A mere reference to a previously published article does not do
that.”).
Ms. Maxwell’s one-sentence response that merely referenced an earlier statement is
nonactionable. This Court should enter partial summary judgment on the defamation claim to the
extent it is based on Ms. Maxwell’s response.
V. The defamation claim should be dismissed because the publication is substantially
true.
““T A] statement is substantially true if the statement would not “have a different effect on
the mind of the reader from that which the pleaded truth would have produced.”’” Franklin v.
Daily Holdings, Inc., 21 N.Y.S.3d 6, 12 (App. Div. 2015) (quoting Biro v. Condé Nast, 883 F.
Supp. 2d 441, 458 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) (quoting Jewell v. NYP Holdings, Inc., 23 F. Supp. 2d 348,
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Document Details
| Filename | DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00095.png |
| File Size | 301.1 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.1% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,047 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04 12:22:31.456760 |