Michael Avenatti denied appeal in $250m defamation suit against Fox News

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Imprisoned lawyer Michael Avenatti has been denied an appeal in his $250m defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

On Thursday, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia rejected Avenatti’s claim that the case should have been heard in a Delaware state court “because he added a new defendant from his home state of California, depriving the federal judge who dismissed the lawsuit last August of jurisdiction,” reported Reuters.

Avenatti sued the news organisation in November 2020 over its coverage of his 2018 arrest on suspicion of domestic violence, which he claimed was a malicious attempt to destroy his reputation. When Fox News moved the case from Delaware Superior Court to federal, Avenatti brought in correspondent Jonathan Hunt as a defendant over the same alleged defamation in an effort to move the case back to Delaware.

A federal judge dismissed the case against Fox New last August.

“Avenatti dislikes how Fox News covered his arrest. But he cannot overcome the truthfulness of the gist of Fox’s coverage—he was, after all, arrested for suspected domestic violence,” wrote Judge Stephanos Bibas at the time.

Thursday’s decision had three appeals judges upholding Judge Bibas’ opinion and calling it “thorough and well-reasoned.”

“Avenatti had already accused Fox News and its other hosts of repeating substantively identical statements,” wrote Circuit Judge Marjorie Rendell in the decision, as per Reuters. “The fact that Avenatti discussed Hunt in the initial complaint without naming him as a defendant also supported a finding of improper purpose.”

Avenatti, 51, previously represented adult actress Stormy Daniels in legal battles again former president Donald Trump.

He is currently serving five years in prison after being convicted of stealing from his client, as well as attempting to extort Nike. He pleaded guilty last month in a separate case to five counts of wire fraud and obstruction.