The Supreme Court will not review a challenge by Trump megadonor casino mogul Steve Wynn that aimed to overturn a core ruling on press freedom. Wynn, a billionaire who oversaw iconic Las Vegas casinos including The Mirage, Treasure Island and the Bellagio, asked the court to lower the standard needed for public figures to sue over media reports, Courthouse News Service reports. The 1964 case New York Times v. Sullivan has allowed the media to report on public figures without the threat of costly libel suits. The ruling says public officials must show actual malice to prevail in a libel suit. The high court declined to grant certiorari in Wynn's case, marking a setback for a push among conservative legal scholars and media critics to overturn Sullivan.
Wynn sued the Associated Press in 2018 over a story about a sexual assault complaint filed against him in the 1970s. The AP obtained police records from two women who accused Wynn of sexual assault. Halina Kuts told police that Wynn raped her in Chicago and that she gave birth to their daughter in a gas station bathroom. Wynn claims the AP omitted details of Kuta’s complaint that would have cast doubt on her claims. He says the article was published without fact-checking or investigating Kuta’s statements. A judge ruled that Kuta had defamed Wynn. but Wynn couldn't convince courts that the AP unlawfully published her claims. He said his appeal presented an ideal vehicle for the justices to overturn Sullivan. “Sullivan is not equipped to handle the world as it is today," Wynn told the court. "Media is no longer controlled by companies that employ legions of factcheckers before publishing an article.” In 2018, media reports detailed dozens of claims of sexual misconduct against him. Several justices, including Clarence Thomas, have backed challenges to Sullivan.
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