Shahid Buttar for Congress Committee v. Hearst Communications, Inc.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 SHAHID BUTTAR FOR CONGRESS Case No. 21-cv-05566-EMC COMMITTEE, et al., 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS, AND v. GRANTING DEFENDANT’S AND PLAINTIFFS’ REQUESTS FOR

HEARST COMMUNICATIONS, INC., JUDICIAL NOTICE

11 Defendant. Docket Nos. 47, 49, 56 12 13 Plaintiffs Shahid Buttar and Shahid Buttar for Congress Committee (collectively, “SBCC”) filed suit against Defendant Hearst Communications, Inc. (“Hearst”) for defamation and violation of California’s unfair competition law. Docket No. 46 (“FAC”). SBCC’s claims arise from two stories published in the San Francisco Chronicle in July 2020 reporting on allegations that Mr. Buttar, then a candidate for Speaker Nany Pelosi’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, sexually harassed an acquaintance Elizabeth Croydon several years earlier. After its original complaint was dismissed with leave to amend, SBCC filed its…