By Larry Neumeister, Associated Press
WDIV
June 11, 2022
NEW YORK — A lawyer for Roy Moore tried to persuade some skeptical federal appeals judges Friday to revive a $95 million defamation lawsuit that the former Alabama candidate for U.S. Senate brought against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.
Attorney Larry Klayman complained during arguments before a panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that Moore wasn’t treated fairly when a judge tossed his lawsuit last July. He even compared his client to actor Johnny Depp, saying Moore also deserves to have a jury determine the validity of his claims.
U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan said in his written ruling last year that a 2018 segment with Moore on “Who Is America” — a comedy series in which Cohen plays fictional characters — could not have defamed him because it was “clearly a joke and no reasonable viewer would have seen it otherwise.”
