MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
Bob McGovern Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Jack Dunn tells me he’s been defamed in the “Spotlight” movie, but there don’t seem to be any Hollywood endings in character assassination lawsuits.
The longtime Boston College spokesman has already lawyered up and asked the movie’s distributors to remove a scene that paints him in an unflattering light. He says his role in the Boston clergy sex-abuse scandal was grossly misstated.
However, he stopped short of saying he would sue Open Road Films, the producer of “Spotlight.” Maybe that’s because it’s too soon to start thinking litigation. Or perhaps it’s because he knows how hard it is to win a defamation case against Hollywood.
“Usually, people in these cases don’t have a good understanding of the First Amendment, and they typically fail,” said Mark Litwak, a famous California entertainment attorney who has experience with silver screen suits. “It’s tougher, too, when they say it’s based on a true story. They’re basically telling the audience they’ve taken some creative liberties.”
Harvey A. Silverglate, a local civil rights attorney, seconded that motion.
“Unless it’s found that the filmmakers had notice early that what they said was false, and then they recklessly disregarded it and didn’t clarify it, I think a filmmaker has an advantage,” Silverglate said. “There’s a sliding scale here, and filmmakers have more leeway than a newspaper or even a documentary.”
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