In the wake of the Michael Rapaport bar seat drama, the actor posted a video to Instagram in which he addressed the matter of his texting with Kevin Durant.
Kevin Durant and Rapaport have been at odds for quite some time. Rapaport first shared the tweets, in which the Brooklyn Nets star is shown shouting homophobic insults, on Twitter.
The two-time NBA champion later apologised for his words and paid a punishment from the NBA.
Here, Rapaport clarifies the situation from his perspective by outlining his explanation of what happened.
The Judge Also Shot Down Rapaport’s Complaint
U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald dismissed Rapaport’s defamation action on Monday, writing.
“A close assessment of the challenged statements in context demonstrates that they would not have been ‘perceived by a reasonable [audience] as assertions of truth that were proffered for their veracity.
Instead, it seems more likely that people would understand that the challenged remarks were the (often blatantly biassed) opinions of the Barstool Defendants because of the environment in which they were made.
The judge also dismissed Rapaport’s claim that Barstool had violated his rights by selling a shirt depicting him as a clown with a red herpes sore beneath his lip.
She wrote that while the image was “hardly flattering to Rapaport,” it was not legally actionable since no one could see it and assume that the shirt was claiming that Rapaport has herpes.
Rapaport had been fired by Barstool Games after he insulted the company’s supporters on Twitter, an act for which Barstool Games said it had every right to terminate his employment.
In ruling that this claim cannot be decided at this time, the judge wrote, “Whether the evidence demonstrates that Rapaport’s tweet actually brought Barstool into public disrepute.
And thus permitted Barstool to immediately terminate the Talent Agreement is a disputed issue of material fact that must be resolved by a jury following trial.”
Conclusion
When Michael Rapaport sued Barstool Sports for libel on March 29th, he was unsuccessful. A look at the events that transpired due of a picture of a clown clothing.
Michael’s opinions on the clown outfit photo have been widely shared since its release in 2018. The actor sued for defamation over the incident.
To his dismay, he lost the lawsuit. The creator of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, also took to Twitter to announce his victory.
