SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – Hearst Communications has fended off a defamation lawsuit brought by a former Congressional hopeful who sued over a 2020 article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Shahid Buttar said the article contained a false allegation that he had committed sexual harassment that cost him votes in his race against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. His lawsuit sought damages and a public apology.
Hearst Communications filed an anti-SLAPP motion, arguing its speech was protected. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen found Buttar failed to prove Hearst acted with actual malice, a requirement for defamation cases.
“Defendant’s editorial decisions as to process and choice of material to include in a news clip is constitutionally protected; disagreement with that process, without more, does not give rise to a claim for defamation,” Chen wrote.
Chen rejected arguments the Chronicle should have contacted certain individuals who would have refuted the allegation made in the article and defamed Buttar for being “an immigrant Muslim.”