The owner of the Truth Social platform, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, has launched a lawsuit against 20 major media companies, including The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter and The Miami Herald, among others.
The case, filed in Sarasota County, Florida, in the Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, alleges a planned media attack involving false reports of a $73 million loss by TMTG.
These are the claims in the lawsuit:
“This case involves an unprecedented and apparently coordinated media campaign, by no fewer than 20 major media outlets, to attack Trump Media & Technology Group (“TMTG”) and its social media platform, Truth Social, by falsely reporting that TMTG had lost. $73 million. This number was a complete fabrication. Each defendant, in apparent coordination, reported the exact same bogus number within approximately 24 hours of each other, each citing a public filing of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), in which the mysterious $73 million loss is nowhere to be found. This was a coordinated effort to damage TMTG’s reputation, degrade the company’s financial position, freeze its access to capital and torpedo the planned merger between Digital World Acquisition Corporation (“DWAC”) and TMTG.
On November 13, 2023, DWAC filed an amended S-4 registration statement with the SEC, marking a significant milestone toward the completion of the proposed merger between DWAC and TMTG. TMTG publicly stated that the S-4 was good news for TMTG. Because this filing involves TMTG and President Trump’s Truth Social, however, these defendants ignored or downplayed TMTG’s public statements about a positive development. Instead, they deliberately or recklessly published false financial information to advance a preferred and coordinated narrative detrimental to TMTG. All of the defendants ran nearly identical headlines reporting some variation of “Trump’s Truth Social” had lost “$73 million.”
On November 14, 2023, TMTG contacted each of these media defendants, notifying them in writing of their error, specifying that their statements regarding an alleged loss of $73 million were false and defamatory, and demanding a retraction and apology. So far, while some defendants have issued little-noticed “corrections” or “updates,” none have retracted the defamatory articles, publicly apologized, or taken any other steps to ameliorate the ongoing damage. While TMTG will continue to pursue its mission and planned merger with DWAC, widespread misreporting throughout the media landscape has deeply harmed TMTG, eroding faith in the company’s operations and management and making it more difficult for TMTG to raise additional capital to finance operations. while its planned merger with DWAC is pending SEC review. Both existing and potential investors were concerned about the fake stories. TMTG intends to hold these reckless and malicious media outlets accountable for their false reporting and their seemingly coordinated effort to destroy TMTG and Truth Social.
The following parties are named in the demand:
Plaintiff TMTG is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. Defendant GUARDIAN NEWS AND MEDIA, LLC (“The Guardian”) is a Delaware limited liability company.
Defendant HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, LLC (“The Hollywood Reporter”) is a Delaware limited liability company. Defendant THE MCCLATCHY COMPANY, LLC, d/b/a Miami Herald (“Miami Herald”) is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Miami, Florida. The defendant REUTERS NEWS & MEDIA INC. (“Reuters”) is a Delaware corporation.
Defendant ROLLING STONE, LLC (“Rolling Stone” is a Delaware limited liability company. Defendant NEXSTAR MEDIA INC., d/b/a The Hill (“The Hill”) is a corporation based in Washington, DC Defendant DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD LLC (“Deadline”) is a Delaware
limited liability company.
Defendant ACCRETIVE CAPITAL LLC, d/b/a Benzinga (“Benzinga”) is a Michigan limited liability company. Defendant MARKETWATCH.COM LLC (“MarketWatch”) is a Delaware limited liability company. Defendant FORBES MEDIA LLC is a Delaware limited liability company.
The defendant AXIOS MEDIA INC. (“Axios”) is a Delaware corporation. Defendant THE DAILY BEAST COMPANY, LLC (“The Daily Beast”) is a Delaware limited liability company. Defendant G/O MEDIA, INC., d/b/a Gizmodo is a Delaware corporation.
Defendant SALON.COM, LLC (“Salon”) is a Delaware limited liability company. Defendant NEW YORK DAILY NEWS COMPANY (“New York Daily News”) is a New York corporation. Defendant NEWSWEEK DIGITAL, LLC (“Newsweek”) is a New York limited liability company.
Defendant MSNBC CABLE, LLC (“MSNBC”) is a Delaware limited liability company. Defendant MEDIAITE, LLC (“Mediaite”) is a Delaware limited liability company. Defendant DMG MEDIA LTD., d/b/a Daily Mail (“Daily Mail”) is a media company based in the United Kingdom.
Defendant CNBC, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company.
TMTG claims the defendants have generated a loss figure of $73 million, citing a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing that does not include that information. “This number was an absolute fabrication,” the lawsuit alleges, noting that each defendant allegedly reported the identical fake number based on the SEC filing.
The action appears to be a deliberate attempt to destroy the image and financial strength of TMTG and Truth Social, which could jeopardize a major merger between Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC) and TMTG. “This was a coordinated effort to damage TMTG’s reputation, degrade the company’s financial position, freeze its access to capital and torpedo the planned merger,” according to the suit.
TMTG claims that these activities have caused significant harm by undermining confidence in the company and its management and making it difficult to acquire further funding. The media coverage is characterized as a “coordinated attack” against TMTG and its social media platform, Truth Social.
The lawsuit also mentions TMTG’s efforts to resolve the matter, including contacting the media defendants to correct the misleading reports. TMTG claims that despite occasional corrections and updates, no substantial retractions or apologies have been issued.
The action seeks $1.5 billion in compensatory, special and punitive damages, as well as an injunction against the continued publication of the defamatory comments. TMTG asserts that the defendants’ activities were knowingly, intentionally, voluntarily, deliberately and maliciously carried out.
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