Former pro basketball player Scottie Pippen’s libel lawsuit against news outlets reporting he was bankrupt was dismissed, ABC News reported.
As iMediaEthics wrote back in 2011, Pippen accused ten news outlets of libel for saying he was bankrupt. The ten websites were CBS Corp., CNBC’s parent company Comcast Corp, General Electric Co., Arizona State University, Yakezie Network and One Money Design, Mint Software Inc., Investing Answers, Sportsreport360.com, Evolve Media Corp, and the University of Tampa’s Minaret.
But, a U.S. District Court decided that Pippen didn’t prove the outlets “falsely or recklessly” erred in reports on Pippen’s “personal finances,” according to ABC News, which added:
“The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division dismissed Pippen’s case. While a number of the suits were terminated in 2012, he then appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, according to court documents.
“While Pippen argued that the media companies’ reports caused his prospective deals to shrink after they were published online, the judge ruled out that there was a causal relationship.”
Hat Tip: Jim Romenesko