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Case 18-2868, Document 276, 08/09/2019, 2628224, Page57 of 77
may still be public figures with respect to a particular controversy.” Contemporary Mission, Inc.
v. N.Y. Times Co., 842 F.2d 612, 617 (2d Cir. 1988).
As the Second Circuit has observed, the reason for distinguishing between private and
public figures in defamation claims flows from the recognition of two things: First, “that private
figure are more vulnerable to injury from defamation, because public figures have greater access
to the media and thus are in a better position to contradict a lie or correct an error.”
Contemporary Mission, Inc., 842 F.2d at 619-20. Second, “and more important, public figures
generally ‘have voluntarily exposed themselves to increased risk of injury from defamatory
falsehood concerning them.’” /d. at 620 (quoting N.Y. Times, 418 U.S. at 344-45) (emphasis
added).
In the Second Circuit, to establish that a plaintiff is a limited purpose public figure, a
defendant must prove that she:
1. successfully invited public attention to [her] views in an effort to influence others
prior to the incident that is the subject of litigation;
2. voluntarily injected [her]self into a public controversy related to the subject of the
litigation;
assumed a position of prominence in the public controversy; and
4. maintained regular and continuing access to the media.
Lerman, 745 F.2d at 136-37; accord, Contemporary Mission, Inc., 842 F.2d at 617; Biro, 963 F.
Supp. 2d at 270. Statements regarding a limited purpose public figure are subject to enhanced
protection only if relevant to the public figure's involvement in a given controversy. Biro, 963 F.
Supp.2d at 270-71 (citing Faigin v. Kelly, 978 F. Supp. 420, 426 (D. N.H. 1997)). “Yet, once a
plaintiff is deemed a limited purpose public figure, courts allow the heightened protections to
sweep broadly, covering all statements by defendants that are not ‘wholly unrelated to the
controversy.’” Biro, 963 F. Supp. 2d at 271 (quoting Waldbaum v. Fairchild Publ'ns, Inc., 626
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Document Details
| Filename | DocumentCloud_Epstein_Docs_p00106.png |
| File Size | 310.3 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.9% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,033 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04 12:22:35.400194 |