Former MediaLink head Michael Kassan’s slander and libel suit against a lawyer for UTA has been dismissed.
UTA, which bought MediaLink, and Kassan are in a dispute over Kassan’s management of the latter company. Kassan asserts he resigned because his contract was violated. UTA claims it fired Kassan because of irregular activities.
Kassan sued attorney Bryan Freedman and his firm because Freedman called Kassan a “pathological liar” during an interview published by a trade publication.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Daniel Murphy ruled that “the statement that Kassan was a “pathological liar” was made in the context of a highly publicized, contentious dispute between Kassan and UTA involving allegations in both directions.”
In such a situation, the participants in the dispute could be expected to use “epithets and hyperbole” which an average reader would not take as fact.
“In sum, no reasonable trier of fact could interpret Freedman’s statement about Kassan as anything other than a nonactionable statement of opinion,“ Murphy ruled. “Therefore, Kassan’s defamation claims fail as a matter of law and have no probability of success.”
