In a recent legal development, noted entertainment lawyer Bryan Freedman, who represents United Talent Agency Inc. (UTA), managed to evade a defamation lawsuit filed by ex-leader of Media Link LLC, Michael Kassan. This case revolved around a previous remark by Freedman, wherein he allegedly referred to Kassan as a ‘pathological liar’, triggering the defamation suit.
Kassan’s complaint highlighted that he had renounced a $10 million severance package to maintain his competitive edge versus UTA after resigning from Media Link LLC, a company owned by UTA. He further stated that Freedman’s comment intended to “create a noncompete by defamation.”
However, the court dismissed the case upon observing that no “reasonable trier of fact” could possibly take Freedman’s contentious statement as factual. Thus, the vindication of Freedman and UTA demonstrates that laws protecting freedom of speech maintain their prominence even in cases involving corporate disputes. For more details about the case, visit the full article on the Bloomberg Law website.