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Netflix’s First Jury Trial & CNN’s Defamation Danger

A suite of cases involving Netflix, TikTok, and CNN hint at the future of First Amendment litigation under Trump 2.0.

greg peters Reed Hastings ted sarandos netflix
With its global footprint and deep pockets, Netflix is clearly an inviting target for lawyers—whose services may be in still-higher demand in a Trump-y political and judicial climate that is more hostile to First Amendment protections. Photo: Akio Kon/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
December 11, 2024

Netflix just endured its very first jury trial—a surprising milestone for a 27-year-old company that’s become a magnet for lawsuits. Late last week, a jury in Indiana awarded $385,000 to a woman who claimed that the 2020 Blumhouse-produced documentary Our Father violated her privacy by disclosing that her biological father was fertility doctor Donald Cline, who secretly inseminated dozens of patients with his own sperm.