From Doe v. Finkelman, decided yesterday by the Florida Court of Appeal by Judge Spencer Levine, joined by Judges Cory Ciklin and Alan Forst:
Appellant filed an amended complaint against the defendants/appellees for defamation per se and conspiracy to defame. According to the amended complaint, defendant Paul Finkelman wrote a book entitled Duplicity: A True Story of Crime and Deceit in which he accused appellant—his ex-wife—of various criminal acts, including prostitution and being the "madam" of a prostitution ring. Based on the book, the defendants created, produced, and published a "docuseries," entitled Paul T. Goldman, which was streamed and distributed on Peacock TV….
The series featured Finkelman as himself, using the alias "Paul T. Goldman." Finkelman revealed his true identity throughout the series. Appellant's amended complaint alleged that the series referred to appellant by a fictitious name, "Audrey Munson." Appellant alleged that she was "easily identifiable as the subject of the false and defamatory statements published by Defendants."
According to the amended complaint, the format of the show was a documentary that operated on "multiple levels." One level was the "real life" story of Finkelman as told by the actual persons involved in the events and by actors portraying the actual persons. The second level was a "making of" documentary where the audience was taken "behind the scenes" during filming and was "privy to parts of the actual creative process."
{The trial court found that the "docuseries" at issue was a single publication rather than multiple publications, and further that the series was not "of and concerning" appellant, and that the statements in the series were not capable of defamatory meaning. We disagree.}
Here's a quick summary of the long opinion:
