PHILADELPHIA – Amazon is fighting the defamation lawsuit of an ex-Philadelphia cop whose name appeared on the documentary Free Meek.
Saqueta Williams’ lawsuit also names Meek Mill, the subject of the documentary, and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, its producer. The series appears on Amazon Prime and chronicles Meek Mill’s history with the criminal justice system in Pennsylvania.
One episode showed the Philadelphia District Attorney Office’s “Do Not Call List” – officers whom the DA did not want to be called to testify in criminal prosecutions because of questions about their backgrounds.
Williams’ name was on the list and was seen in the episode, leading her to file a defamation lawsuit. She was arrested in 2017 for drawing a gun while off-duty at a bar, though she was acquitted of criminal charges. She was also fired.
“For one second, the documentary shows the portion of the newspaper article that mentions Saqueta Williams, the plaintiff in this case,” Amazon’s lawyers wrote on Sept. 10. “Based on that fleeting image of a public source, Williams filed this lawsuit.”
“Even accepting Williams’ allegations of harm as true, she cannot state any claim. Williams’ defamation and false light claims fail as a matter of law because the documentary does not convey any materially false facts about her, and the individual statements on which she bases her claims, when viewed in context, address the List as a whole and cannot reasonably be understood to be stating any facts about her individually.”
Williams’ lawsuit also fails to reach the actual malice standard needed for a defamation claim, the motion says, because she can’t allege the defendants intended to present her in a false light.