6:25pm: In a full column, Salisbury relays Howard’s official statement on the matter: “Today I authorized my attorneys to file suit against Al Jazeera and its reporters. Their irresponsible reporting forced me to take this action to protect my name and to fight back against the spreading of these lies. I will have no further comment, as the filing itself contains all I need to say.”
6:08pm: John Ourand of Sports Business Journal has a copy of Zimmerman’s suit against Al Jazeera (PDF link from Ourand, on Twitter).
5:59pm: According to a report from Reuters (Twitter link) and a second report from Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com (also on Twitter), Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard have filed lawsuits against the Al Jazeera media outlet for the PED allegations against each player in Al Jazeera’s recent documentary, The Dark Side. The controversial documentary was released in late December, although within hours of its release, the documentary’s main witness, Charlie Sly, told ESPN that the comments he made regarding Zimmerman and Howard were “absolutely false and incorrect,” adding that the comments he made to British hurdler Liam Collins, who went undercover for the film, were his attempt to “pull one over on Collins to see if he had any idea of what he was talking about.”
Per the Washington Post’s Barry Svrluga (links to Svrluga on Twitter), Zimmerman’s lawsuit states the following: “Mr. Zimmerman has never taken Delta 2, human growth hormone, or any other steroid or other performance-enhancing substance banned by the MLB.” The Al Jazeera film in question alleges that Zimmerman did take Delta-2, which is both specifically designated to evade drug tests and included on Major League Baseball’s list of banned substances. At the time the documentary was published, attorney William Burck of Emmanuel Quinn, who represents both Zimmerman and Howard, issued the following statement:
“It’s inexcusable and irresponsible that Al Jazeera would provide a platform and broadcast outright lies about Mr. Howard and Mr. Zimmerman. The extraordinarily reckless claims made against our clients in this report are completely false and rely on a source who has already recanted his claims. We will go to court to hold Al Jazeera and other responsible parties accountable for smearing our clients’ good names.”
NFL star Peyton Manning, who is also the subject of Al Jazeera allegations, could conceivably file a suit as well, as could fellow NFL players Julius Peppers, Mike Neal and James Harrison, each of whom is connected to Delta-2 usage in the film as well. MLBTR’s sister site, Pro Football Rumors, has been tracking the football implications of the Al Jazeera documentary for those who are interested in the latest developments on the NFL side of the equation.
“I wish I could afford a lawyer…”
-Taylor Teagarden
I was just wondering why you hadn’t joined in. Haha
He would have to sue himself
Actually, he can; I just put him in touch with Jackie Chiles.
Good go get um boys
Where’s there is smoke there is fire good luck guys!
Slim chance of winning ,. Have to show actual malice. “Actual malice” means that the person who made the statement knew it wasn’t true, or didn’t care whether it was true or not and was reckless with the truth — for example, when someone has doubts about the truth of a statement but does not bother to check further before publishing it.
I have to imagine Al Jazeera tried to follow up and interview Howard and Zimmerman and were refused. They are just publishing what Sly alleged, although if Sly retracted what he said before they published they would have to explain why they did not believe the retraction. That one is obvious since Sly was confessing to a crime in private and did not want this public..
Of course, their name may be an issue and finding an unbiased jury could be difficult
not so sure about that, if al jazeera can’t prove their claims…. they might be in hot water :
alllaw.com/articles/nolo/civil-litigation/evidence…
Yeah.. Right.. Fox news, especially when they gave a platform to Glenn Beck and still do Sean Hannity. MSNBC to it’s entire “news” staff.
Prove claims? Those 2 would be in court 24/7 if there was a chance slandering others had legal repercussions.
The burden is not on Al Jazeera to prove its claims.
The burden is on Ryan Zimmerman to prove Al Jazeera acted with actual knowledge of falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth.
I try not to play this card, but as a lawyer, you really shouldn’t get your legal advice at alllaw.com because that is not true. They don’t have to prove any of it, just show they had some reason to think their source.was at all credible. It takes a lot to sue a newspaper over a story, even if it’s completely false. You do have to show that they misbehaved in some way, not just that they were wrong.
Depends on the jury, Al Jazeera isn’t exactly popular with the American middle-class these days
But, but … Hillary says they’re GREAT!
Not entirely accurate. The Zimmerman suit alleges libel per se, which does not require a showing of malice. It also contains a false light privacy claim, which does not require a demonstration of malice. The complaint is well crafted and even if malice is a requirement, they apparently have enough to demonstrate significant advance notice to Al Jazeera that its source and “evidence” were not credible and that they acted either intentionally or recklessly by publishing false statements.
Given the historical lack of lawsuits filed by athletes who have been named as PED users, the fact that Howard and Zimmerman have chosen to sue (and have done so quickly and aggressively) should send chills up the spines of the network and the reporter.
As an attorney who taught mass media law at the university level for six years, I can write that your summary of libel law is inaccurate.
Ryan Zimmerman is a public figure who would need to prove actual malice, which is actual knowledge of falsity or a reckless disregard of the truth. Those constitutional protections have been extended to most false light claims.
David Charles Sly is a liar but I don’t know where the truth lies.
A key issue is likely to be what corroboration Al Jazeera had of Sly’s claims. The videotaped statements of MLB player Taylor Teagarden is one piece of corroboration. Sly apparently is not a self-aggrandizing braggart who has never dealt PEDs to an MLB player. In a later interview, the Al Jazeera reporter said an anonymous source corroborated Sly.
money.cnn.com/2016/01/03/media/al-jazeera-manning-…
We’re in no position to render a judgment based on a few media reports of the controversy.. I will follow the case with interest.
Those are points of law that would apply if there was no jury, and even then, there’s always an abundance of legal hair-splitting that even a competent judge could accept.
Regardless, Al Jazeera will not expose itself to the negative publicity that discovery and trial would bring and will settle out of court.
“Al Jazeera will not expose itself to the negative publicity”
Doesn’t phase CAIR any, why wouldn’t it phase this slightly less identical propaganda wing of arab media any, that is if anyone else has ever ventured to take a look at any of the rubbish that they broadcast world wide.
As far as much of the US population is concerned.. Or “Hillary’s bunch” they are nothing but oppressed palastinians whose voices need to be heard and treated with love and compassion.
Not sure about that at all. If they knew or should have known that the allegations were false then that is enough. With no presented evidence and a retracted story, it seems they should have known. Both players can show cases of other MLB players losing out on money after allegations of steroids (Hof,Canseco, ETC). My guess is they will probably end up settling.
From what I’ve read I can safely speculate that David Charles Sly is a liar.
I have no idea where the truth lies.
The suit may keep the story in the news longer than Ryan Zimmerman would want.
…and more so longer than Al Jazeera would want.
Al Jazeera may welcome the publicity.
The old Hollywood saying is: Any press is good press.
Charlie Sly may be a loser/sleezeball/lowlife…but someone spreading lies during a private conversation in a car? He was trying to push his product and was giving names of satisfied clientele. Recanting of the statement means next to nothing.
Way more NFL players were ousted than MLB, by the way. Is that really surprising?
He may be scum, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t being honest in an “off-the-record” conversation. Death threats are probably coming to him left and right.
yeah here’s what i’ve been saying to people who are all like “sly recanted, so, it’s obviously not true”
mafia guy on wiretap: yeah we killed him
newspaper: see
mafia guy: no actually… uh… i was kidding
you: oh ok
Pretty much Wilymo, they also have a certain MLB(yes he sucks but he still get’s paid) player on tape admitting to using, if they were “lying to protect secrets” why would Teagarden want to have his name and future livelihood ruined by association to PEDs?
This x5,000. Funny how Sly is a liar, but everyone believes he is telling the truth when the story is recanted…. I watched the documentary, and I believe he knew darn well what he was saying. He got caught with his hand in the jar.
Why Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman? If you’re going to make up MLB players to try and “pull one over on Collins” why choose two guys that aren’t exactly household names and are guys who have struggled in recent seasons. I would think you would make up the names of a couple of super stars.
“That’s the genius of it”
Jeter is mentioned too. Though no statements about him being supplied anything. Just that Sly’s business partner happens to be Jeter’s trainer
Would it surprise me if he did take something? I’ll say Yes And No. Just pointing it out that his (Jeter’s) name is mentioned in a NY Times article about the Al Jazeera report
Might be the tip of the iceberg
nytimes.com/2016/01/06/sports/baseball/al-jazeera-…
Thank you for the link to the New York Times piece.
A guy hits 58 home runs in a season and is now accused of taking HGH? What a surprise. Next you will be telling me Mark Mcqwire was on steroids.
Or maybe Sammy Sosa or even possibly Barry Bonds
I wouldn’t want my product being linked to the performance of Ryan Howard or Ryan Zimmerman either.
Well how about to the performance of Taylor Teagarden? Because they have him on tape.
“Our products are in no way shape or form, responsible for the performance of Taylor Teagarden”
My favorite part of Ryan Howard’s lawsuit is how he claims it might keep him out of the Hall of Fame. No Ryan your stats will keep you out of the hall of fame.
+1.
I don’t know, a career .262 batting average is very hall of fame worthy, maybe add one more year of an average below .230 he will be a lock
I’m intrigued that we haven’t heard a peep from Clay Matthews & camp. Pretty smart to just keep quiet.
It won’t matter the outcome of the lawsuits. For some people, Howard and Zimmerman will always be associated with PEDs now regardless of the truth. This “news” organization has basically just condemned their careers to having a permanent black spot.
So sick of hearing about PEDs. A name the media gave them anyway so the public can be swayed to think how evil they are. Keeping some of these guys out of the Hall is just wrong. PEDs might make a person stronger, run a little faster, or heal a little quicker but they in no way help anyone hit a major league curveball or slider. Yes, Palmeiro took steroids but he also got 3000 hits. Steroids might have helped him achieve 200 of those by prolonging his career. I am tired of the media making these players out to be nothing more than bench fodder without the roids. I know I am in the minority here but enough is enough.
Agreed.
I was done with the topic when Congress got involved. Seriously? U.S. Congress investigating and conducting hearings on Juicing in Baseball?
There are far worse members in the HoF than Bonds & Rocket:: “worse” as human beings overall
Who watches al jazeera
In before they get suspensions