From yesterday's decision by Judge Dana Sabraw (S.D. Cal.) in Button v. Lopresti:
The Court accepts the Amended Complaint's allegations as true for purposes of resolving the motion to dismiss. Dusty Button was a world-renowned and well-known ballet dancer. She accumulated nearly half a million followers and subscribers on Instagram until December 2021, when she deleted her social media account due to "severe cyber bullying and harassment." Mitchell Button was a part of "Button Built," a team and brand for automotive design, builds, and work in the automotive industry. Mitchell Button also had nearly half a million followers and subscribers on his Instagram account, @button_built. He too deleted this social media account in 2021 because of "severe cyber bullying and harassment." …
In July 2021, Plaintiffs were sued in the United States District Court of Nevada for $131,000,000 ("Nevada Lawsuit"). The Nevada Lawsuit was publicized in thousands of articles, televised on news and media outlets such as Good Morning America, and published on social media pages and channels. [The lawsuit involved allegations of sexual assault. -EV] The coverage of the Nevada Lawsuit states Plaintiffs were sued in a civil action. Plaintiffs were never arrested, charged with any crime, or jailed in connection with the allegations contained in the Nevada Lawsuit. On January 6, 2025, Plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment in the Nevada Lawsuit. Plaintiffs posted a redacted version of the motion for summary judgment to their Instagram page, @WeTheButtons, which is "dedicated to providing accurate information about the [Nevada Lawsuit]." Defendant followed this Instagram page….
A third-party Instagram page, @trail.huntr, posted to Instagram a photo of Mitchell Button's automotive work. On January 27, 2025, Defendant posted a comment on this post, stating the Buttons were "locked up for some f*cked up stuff" and it was a "shame they weren't good people." The post by @trail.huntr was "shared" at least three hundred and twenty two times, and Defendant's comments were published to hundreds of thousands of people.
