Nevada’s highest court has dismissed a defamation case brought by casino magnate Steve Wynn against the Associated Press. The Nevada Supreme Court, composed of a seven-judge panel, upheld a previous decision from February, citing the state’s anti-SLAPP laws, effectively ending the legal battle.
The lawsuit originated from a February 2018 AP news story that reported on a police statement made by Halina Kuta, who accused the former Wynn Resorts chairman and CEO of sexual misconduct. At the time of the story, Wynn was already facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct from female Wynn Resorts employees, all of which he denied and for which he has not been prosecuted.
Kuta’s allegations were later found to be false, leading a lower court judge in March 2020 to rule in favor of Wynn, awarding him symbolic damages of $1. Wynn argued that the AP’s reporting was libelous, contending that some of Kuta’s claims were so outrageous that journalists should have recognized them as not credible. He also accused the news agency of omitting details that would have undermined her account.
The AP article in question recounted Kuta’s false claims that Wynn had raped her in the 1970s and that she gave birth to their daughter in a gas station restroom. In an affidavit later provided to Wynn’s lawyers, Kuta also claimed to have been the model for Picasso’s “Le Rêve,” which was owned by Wynn and painted a decade before she was born. Kuta additionally alleged that Wynn had stolen “Le Rêve” and other valuable artworks from her. She further claimed to have been married to Wynn in the 1960s and to have borne him other children, although she could not remember their names.
Anti-SLAPP statutes exist to prevent powerful public figures from using lawsuits to intimidate or silence critics, and to protect news organizations that publish stories in good faith, believing them to serve the public interest. The Supreme Court panel noted that Wynn needed to present “clear and convincing evidence to reasonably infer that the publication was made with actual malice.”
“The public had an interest in understanding the history of misconduct alleged to have been committed by one of the most recognized figures in Nevada and the article directly relates to that interest,” the judges concluded.
Following a Wall Street Journal article titled “Dozens of People Recount Pattern of Sexual Misconduct by Las Vegas Mogul Steve Wynn,” Wynn resigned from Wynn Resorts in 2018. In July, Wynn agreed to pay Nevada gaming regulators $10 million to settle a complaint stating that these allegations had “harmed Nevada’s reputation and its gaming industry.” As part of the settlement, which did not constitute an admission of guilt, Wynn agreed never to hold a position with a Nevada gaming company again.
