04/25/24
February 02, 2011
Dan Snyder, Innovator: Snyder didn't like a piece in the Washington City Paper. So he's threatening to sue if the reporter isn't fired.
Snyder has never sued a media organization for something aired or printed, according to Patty Glaser, one of his lawyers. But Glaser said Tuesday that a lawsuit is being prepared. Defending such a suit can be an expensive proposition for a media organization.
Use that money to get what you want, Snyder! Big baby.
I can't stand these rich, smug clowns who want all the publicity they can get when it meets their needs, but pull this crap when they don't like it. Well, it comes with the territory, Dan. Seems like you would have figured this out by now, but apparently not.
I think he totally expected the Redskins would have had a Super Bowl title to show for his spending in recent years, but that hasn't happened. Now he has to live with the fact many don't care for him.
Funny you used the word "douchebag" fraze, because I had that in my comment but deleted it before posting.
posted by dyams at 10:23 AM on February 02, 2011
Snyder knows that he can't win this, but he can make it very expensive for any newspaper to publish something unflattering.
posted by bperk at 10:24 AM on February 02, 2011
They only have to respond with one thing: S.L.A.P.P.
New York (the paper's primary owner's state) has a SLAPP law on the books according to WikiPedia. So, this is a non-story until they file suit. I can't imagine he'd be dumb enough to do so. But who knows, maybe he is considering all the stuff he's done so far.
As dyams quoted, Snyder has never sued a media organization. Maybe it's because he knows he'd get his ass handed back to him and a large legal bill to pay on top of it. Maybe he's hoping that this "little fish" might be too scared to even try and fight it.
And as far as I'm concerned, he's done more than enough to earn that spot in the dictionary. Maybe it's just the dictionary company being scared to put his picture next to the word. He might try to sue them.
posted by jjohn24680 at 11:51 AM on February 02, 2011
From McKenna's article:
"Pentagon Flag Hat: A Redskins cap sold for profit by Snyder to "commemorate September 11" in time for the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Ads boasted that the $23.99 caps, really just black Redskins hats with a red, white, and blue Pentagon sewn on the side, were "expected to be worn by the Redskins coaches." No other NFL team put 9/11 commemorative products for sale during the 2006 season, for profit or otherwise. Snyder had previously added a $4 "security surcharge" to the ticket prices soon after the attacks."
Calling him a douchebag is an insult to douchebags everywhere.
posted by cjets at 12:19 PM on February 02, 2011
What a shitheel.
posted by rocketman at 01:07 PM on February 02, 2011
Snyder knows that he can't win this, but he can make it very expensive for any newspaper to publish something unflattering.
Any newspaper or newsweekly afraid of getting sued for factual stories needs to get into another business.
posted by rcade at 01:31 PM on February 02, 2011
The piece that got Snyder so mad is amazing. So many ridiculous moves. His team sells beer in the bathrooms! They once refused to accept any credit card for season ticket payments other than the Redskins Extra Point MasterCard!
posted by rcade at 01:44 PM on February 02, 2011
Suddenly, this Bengals fan doesn't feel all that bad about Mike Brown. Snyder makes the Brown family seem Rooney-esque.
posted by tahoemoj at 02:26 PM on February 02, 2011
Snyder's threats are only serving to direct more people towards the way he extorts Redskins fans. Shrewd move.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:13 PM on February 02, 2011
I'm also curious about which assertions Snyder feels are defamatory. It seems like any junior newspaper legal associate could defend any suit brought on the basis of this story. First, Snyder would need to prove that the statements were false, and if so, that they were printed with actual malice. Something tells me he will fall short on both accounts, so why would it be that expensive to defend? Rattling the lawsuit saber shouldn't elicit too grand a response if the paper can document its facts.
posted by tahoemoj at 06:46 PM on February 02, 2011
I write with no malice in my heart and facts on my side that Snyder is a douchenozzle.
posted by Joey Michaels at 07:03 PM on February 02, 2011
Also, looking at the article, unless the writer was really pulling stuff out of his ass, I couldn't find a single thing that couldn't be easily proven or disproven. Snyder may have just added another entry to his index.
posted by Joey Michaels at 07:10 PM on February 02, 2011
posted by cjets at 01:41 AM on February 03, 2011
I really, really wish he had ended that memo with "So sue me." Quality piece, that.
posted by boredom_08 at 02:18 AM on February 03, 2011
Snyder sued the paper Wednesday. He also had his PR team release a statement from a rabbi alleging the story was anti-Semitic
posted by rcade at 12:39 PM on February 03, 2011
a rabbi alleging the story was anti-Semitic
Yeah, and he would know all about racism since his team's name and mascot are so racially sensitive.
posted by Joey Michaels at 02:35 PM on February 03, 2011
The newspaper also asked Snyder "to provide information demonstrating that what we published was false," but has not received such documentation.
posted by yerfatma at 03:23 PM on February 03, 2011
That rabbi should be ashamed of himself. Way to trivialize the fight against anti-semitism by finding an anti-semitic message in a photograph clearly doctored to appear childish. You see, there was this story about a boy who cried "wolf"...
posted by tahoemoj at 03:57 PM on February 03, 2011
Yeah, and he would know all about racism since his team's name and mascot are so racially sensitive.
Seems I recall fraze mentioning that issue once or twice or several hundred times!
posted by dyams at 04:46 PM on February 03, 2011
Is this finally going to be enough to get Snyder's picture next to the word "douchebag" in the dictionary?