Harvard Professor Withdraws Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times

Reuters recently reported that Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor, has withdrawn a lawsuit against the New York Times. The lawsuit accused the newspaper of “clickbait defamation” concerning Lessig’s views toward the late financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Lessig objected to the article titled “A Harvard Professor Doubles Down: If you Take Epstein’s Money, Do It In Secret” claiming it falsely suggested he approved of accepting donations from Epstein. But in April, the Times changed the online headline to match the print headline “What Are the Ethics of Taking Tainted Funds?” In addition, it changed the lead to reflect that while Lessig defended Joichi Ito, who resigned as director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after accepting donations from Epstein he preferred that universities had never such money. A spokeswoman for the Times said the newspaper was pleased with the decision to withdraw the lawsuit.