A federal appeals court has revived a defamation case against MSNBC host Joy Reid.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Wednesday that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York erroneously dismissed the lawsuit brought on by a Trump supporter named Roslyn La Liberte against the host, according to Law & Crime.
La Liberte filed the suit in the fall of 2019. The crux of La Liberte’s suit was that the MSNBC host defamed her by reposting a viral photo of her with an inaccurate caption.
The photo was taken at a City Council meeting in Simi Valley on June 25, 2018. In the photo, La Liberte is wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and appears to be yelling at a teenager. The particular meeting took place during debate over SB 54, legislation aimed at limiting local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Reid, who was named the network’s newest prime-time host less than a week ago, retweeted the photo with the caption, “You are going to be the first deported.” Then, she posted it again on social media with her own caption, “You are going to be the first deported … dirty Mexican!” In a subsequent post, Reid added, “Make the picture black and white and it could be the 1950s and the desegregation of a school. Hate is real, y’all. It hasn’t even really gone away.”
The final post, on July 1, juxtaposed the photo of La Liberte with a 1957 photograph showing one of the Little Rock Nine walking past a screaming white woman.
The problem is that the interaction between La Liberte and the 14-year-old boy was “civil,” the boy told a local TV station, the Hollywood Reporter said at the time. Additionally, La Liberte’s son reached out to Reid, saying that she took the photo out of context and providing a link to the interview from the local network, but La Liberte’s son said Reid posted it again.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that based on that July 1 post, another user would get the impression that La Liberte is racist, and that Reid “is liable for what is insinuated, as well as for what is stated explicitly.”
MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The court also ruled that California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which is designed to deter frivolous lawsuits, “is inapplicable in federal court because it conflicts with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12 and 56.”
