The stories in question containing the alleged false information, were published in late 2021 and early 2022. In the article, Portnoy was portrayed as a person who had “turned violent and humiliating.”
Portnoy and his attorneys claim that Insider maliciously published articles relating to Portnoy and his sexual assault allegations. Additionally, the CEO argued that because that articles were essentially “hidden” behind a paywall, that added to the malice intention. Judge Saylor, however, disagreed with this argument stating the paywall feature did not add to the alleged malicious intent.
In response to the verdict, Portnoy’s attorney said the verdict was “Disappointing, frustrating, not overly surprising,” he said. “Every single lawyer said it was an uphill battle, every single legal expert said it was an uphill battle, that it’s almost impossible for a public figure to prove defamation. I still wanted to do it because what they did was so bad, so wrong.”
Insider Inc., Blodget, Black, Licea and Carlson are represented by Elizabeth A. McNamara, Rachel F. Strom and Lindsey B. Cherner of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
