Clare Locke LLP Files Motion For Leave To File An Amicus Brief To Back Megan Thee Stallion's Effort to Reinstate Defamation Verdict Against Milagro Cooper
PR Newswire
MIAMI, Dec. 30, 2025
MIAMI, Dec. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Renowned defamation law firm Clare Locke LLP filed a motion for leave to file an amicus brief in support of Megan Thee Stallion's motion to reinstate the jury's defamation verdict against Milagro Cooper in her case in the Southern District of Florida.
In its brief, Clare Locke explains that Florida's retraction-demand statute applies only to members of the media "as distinguished from private persons" and only when they publish allegedly defamatory content in the course of "further[ing] the free dissemination of information or disinterested and neutral commentary or editorializing as to matters of public interest." Cooper, by contrast, testified that she is not a journalist but rather an "entertainer" and the jury found that she did not "impartially disseminate[] information" and did not "provide[] disinterested and neutral commentary."
Clare Locke explains its rationale for independently backing Megan's effort, outlining how its clients regularly face catastrophic reputational harm and explaining that unsubstantiated claims in today's social media era spread faster than victims' abilities to clear their names.
The firm argues that applying Florida's retraction-demand statute to Cooper sets the wrong precedent and "would compel many victims of defamation to subject themselves to more defamation as a precondition to seeking justice in court" because so-called influencers like Cooper often leverage retraction demands to double-down on their defamation. Victims of defamation like Megan, Clare Locke explains, face an unenviable dilemma: either do nothing or fight back through expensive, time-consuming litigation where the deck is stacked against them.
Clare Locke's filing describes how independent bloggers and online journalists are driven by different incentives and lack constraints applicable to the traditional media. The team writes that bloggers and influencers seek to "garner attention and clicks as quickly as possible regardless of the truth" while traditional media outlets are subject to codes of ethics and journalistic standards and are incentivized to employ editorial and legal teams to avoid publishing defamatory content.
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