MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell suffers big court loss in defamation suit

A federal judge denied MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's attempt to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by the Smartmatic voting technology company.

The pillow magnate had asked the court to dismiss the complaint by arguing the company had failed to adequately make its case for defamation, and his attorneys argued that Lindell's election fraud claims were protected under the First Amendment, but U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright denied the motions to dismiss, reported Politico.

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MyPillow also filed a motion arguing that Lindell's statements cannot be attributed to his company, but the judge denied that, as well.

The court ruled that Smartmatic had made sufficient allegations to support its defamation case by demonstrating that Lindell had made knowingly false statements and acted with actual malice, and the judge ruled that MyPillow can be held liable for those claims because he allegedly defamed the tech company while promoting his company.