A federal judge has rejected a defamation lawsuit<\/a> filed by right-wing activist Laura Loomer<\/a> against comedian Bill Maher<\/a> and HBO<\/a> after the \u201cReal Time\u201d host suggested she was engaged in a sexual relationship with President Donald Trump<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n U.S. District Judge James Moody concluded on Wednesday that Loomer\u2019s complaint had not met the threshold for proving that Maher had acted with actual malice. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Loomer filed the lawsuit in October 2024, after Maher suggested during an episode of his HBO show that she was possibly \u201cin an arranged relationship to affect the election because she\u2019s very close to Trump. She\u2019s 31, looks like his type.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe did an editorial here a few years ago \u2026 it was basically, who\u2019s Trump f**king? Because I said, you know, it\u2019s not nobody. He\u2019s been a dog for too long, and it\u2019s not Melania. I think we may have our answer this week. I think it might be Laura Loomer,\u201d Maher continued. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n AP Photo\/Ted Shaffrey, File<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Moody wrote in his decision that Maher\u2019s comments were \u201cmade by a comedian, Maher, about a public figure, Loomer, during a time when the environment was rife with jokes and speculation about Loomer\u2019s relationship with President Trump.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBecause no reasonable person would take the episode as Maher commenting on facts and because Plaintiff has not proved Defendants acted with actual malice, or that she suffered damages, Defendants are entitled to summary judgment in their favor,\u201d Moody continued. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The judge also cited the fact that speculation about Loomer and Trump\u2019s relationship had been happening before Maher made his comments on Sept. 13, 2024. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe delivery of the episode, by a well-known comedian, in the context of a late-night comedy television series centered around jokes, signaled to viewers that this was not a factual statement about Loomer or concerning Loomer,\u201d Moody wrote. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a lengthy statement <\/a>on social media, Loomer described the ruling as \u201cfactually and legally wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt is beyond the pale for any judge to say that a woman can be accused of having sex with a man and have it be brushed off as \u2018a joke\u2019 just because she proclaimed a platonic love for their politics and leadership style. The ruling is totally dishonest and misogynistic. I am a professional woman who simply traveled as a guest to the Presidential debate, and everyone knows Bill Maher was a strong supporter of Kamala Harris<\/a> and rabidly anti-Trump at the time he made these defamatory comments about me,\u201d Loomer wrote on X. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Right-wing](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/69e972531400004b68ecae7f.jpeg?cache=3z34BmjKH3&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale\")
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