By Myrek Zastavnyi
The legal battle intensifies as the entity overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social, the burgeoning social media platform, initiates legal proceedings against 20 media outlets, including Newsweek, the Hollywood Reporter, the New York Daily News, MSNBC, CNBC, Forbes, Axios and Reuters among them. The lawsuit alleges defamation regarding reports on the platform’s purported losses.
Filed by the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) last week in the twelfth circuit court in Sarasota County, Florida, the complaint vehemently denies the accuracy of reports claiming a staggering $73 million loss since Truth Social’s inception, labeling them as “an utter fabrication.”
The losses figure was also referenced by talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who is not named in the complaint. Newsweek, the Hollywood Reporter, the New York Daily News, MSNBC, CNBC, Forbes, Axios and Reuters were named in Monday’s lawsuit. Rolling Stone magazine and the owner of The Hill are also listed.
Alongside those outlets are British newspapers The Guardian and the Daily Mail, as well as the owner and executive editor of the Miami Herald newspaper.
Several online-only outlets are named, including Deadline Hollywood, the owner of Benzinga, MarketWatch, the Daily Beast, the owner of Gizmodo, Mediaite and Salon.
The legal team representing TMTG argues that the media outlets engaged in an “unprecedented and seemingly coordinated media campaign.” They emphasize that all outlets “reported the exact same false number within approximately 24 hours of one another, each citing to a public Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) filing, in which the mystery $73 million loss appears nowhere.”
According to TMTG, this concerted effort was aimed at damaging the organization’s reputation, undermining its financial stability, jeopardizing its access to capital, and thwarting the anticipated merger between Digital World Acquisition Corporation (“DWAC”) and TMTG.
The DWAC, a mergers and asset acquisition firm, has been in talks to merge with TMTG since October 2021. However, numerous missed deadlines have plagued the transaction. Despite its potential profitability, DWAC expressed reservations in an SEC filing about TMTG’s financial capacity to meet its obligations.
DWAC announced the return of over half a billion dollars to investors in October 2023 after missing a September 2022 merger deadline. A new deadline has been set for December 31 this year. The success of the deal is crucial for Truth Social to maintain competitiveness in the evolving social media landscape.
Former President Trump’s return to X (formerly Twitter) and the expiration of the exclusivity agreement between him and Truth Social in June added complexity to the platform’s positioning in the market.
An SEC filing by DWAC on November 13 provided financial insights, revealing Truth Social’s operating loss of $23 million in 2022, with net sales of $1.4 million. For the first half of 2023, an operating loss of $7.6 million was recorded, with net sales of $2.3 million. TMTG’s cumulative net loss since its launch until June 30, 2023, amounted to $31.5 million.
The lawsuit, which includes defamation and injurious falsehood claims, seeks damages of $1.5 billion and injunctive relief, prohibiting the publication or republication of the allegedly defamatory statements. A jury trial is also demanded.
Notably, some outlets, including Newsweek, The Hollywood Reporter, and others, have made corrections to their articles, removing the disputed $73 million figure. The lawsuit encompasses prominent names such as MSNBC, CNBC, Forbes, Axios, Reuters, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and the Daily Mail, among others, reflecting the broad scope of this legal confrontation.
