With the news that one of the real people depicted in Dumb Money is threatening legal action against the film, it’s worth looking back on some of the biggest true story projects to face defamation and libel lawsuits. Cinematic dramatizations are always legal minefields. If a film depicts a real person, or even features a character closely resembling a real person, it’s vulnerable to lawsuits. While many true story films try to stick as closely to the facts as possible or change the names of the real people they’re portraying, this doesn’t guarantee protection.
While films and TV shows enjoy some First Amendment protections in the United States, they must still tread carefully. Even when pseudonyms are used, a real person has a case so long as the film or TV character is obviously meant to represent them. However, if the person being depicted is a public figure – someone who has, for example, published books or appeared prominently in the press – then they must prove that the film or series acted with “actual malice”. Generally, actual malice is hard to...
On 23 March 2026, US President Donald Trump posted on a social media platform, Truth Social, that Washington and Tehran were engaged in productive negotiations. Within an hour, oil prices fell by n...