Berry Gordy has dropped his defamation suit against a filmmaker and three companies in which the 95-year-old Motown founder alleged all were liable for creating a false narrative by portraying him “as a thug and a mobster” in a film about record executive Neil Bogart.
The defendants in Gordy’s Los Angeles Superior Court action included Bogart’s son, filmmaker Timothy Bogart, along with Hero Entertainment, Universal City Entertainment Group and Amazon.com. The litigation concerned the film “Spinning Gold,” which was streamed on Amazon Prime Video. The suit’s allegations included defamation and invasion of privacy.
On Monday, Gordy’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Tony Richardson asking that the lawsuit be dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning it could not be refiled.
The court papers do not state if a settlement was reached or if Gordy is not pursuing the case for other reasons. However, in February defense attorneys filed court papers asking for a delay in a hearing on their anti-SLAPP motion so that they could pursue a possible resolution of the case.
Timothy Bogart produced and directed “Spinning Gold,” which the suit stated is “ostensibly” intended to chronicle the history of Casablanca Records, which was founded by Neil Bogart.
But according to Gordy’s suit filed in June 2023, the film “advances a fraudulent and made-up story line in which Gordy is wrongfully and dishonestly portrayed as a thug and a mobster who goes so far as to order a murder for hire.”
Bogart, Hero Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Amazon.con maintained that Gordy’s claims infringed on their First Amendment rights. Their dismissal motion, which was never heard, was based on the state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law. The statute is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
The defense attorneys maintained the public had a significant interest in the career of Neil Bogart.
“Bogart’s culture-altering legacy is reflected in his instrumental role in signing world-famous acts such as Gladys Knight, Kiss and The Isley Brothers through Buddah Records and Casablanca Records,” the defense attorneys stated in their court papers.
Neil Bogart died at age 39 of cancer and lymphoma in May 1982.