A US federal judge in Jacksonville, Florida has ruled that Patrick Reed must pay the journalists and news outlets he sued for alleged defamation after the case was thrown out. The court found Reed brought the meritless lawsuits in order to stifle free speech.
The claim central to Reed’s complaint was that Brandel Chamblee and the Golf Channel conspired with the PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan to defame Reed “since he was 23 years old” – nine years ago. Other journalists included in the lawsuit were Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press, Northern Irish writer for Golfweek Eamon Lynch and golf writer Shane Ryan
Reed’s allegations included “misreporting information with falsity and/or reckless disregard of the truth, that is with actual and constitutional malice, purposely omitting pertinent key material facts to mislead the public, and actively targeting [Reed] to destroy his reputation, create hate, and a hostile work environment for him.”
Judge Timothy Corrigan said about the case: “Reed does not meet the required pleading of actual malice to hold the press liable for defamation. While Reed may be frustrated at the negative media coverage he receives [some of which seems over the top], under Florida law and the First Amendment, Reed fails to bring actionable defamation claims and his cases therefore must be dismissed.”
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Corrigan reiterated in his latest ruling that the defendants “exercised the constitutional right of free speech in their publications about Reed as a public figure.”
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