The Bee jumps salty with the shitlib propagandists at the scurrilous NYT.
Re: Demand for Retraction of New York Times Article by Mike Isaac
Dear Ms. Brayton: We represent the Babylon Bee in this matter and write on its behalf. Please direct any related correspondence to the undersigned.
As you should be aware, Mike Isaac, a reporter at the New York Times, authored a defamatory article in which he stated:
Facebook often dealt with far-right misinformation sites that used “satire” claims to protect their presence on the platform, Mr. Brooking said. For example, The Babylon Bee, a rightleaning site, sometimes trafficked in misinformation under the guise of satire.
This article was published by the New York Times. After its publication, the Babylon Bee, in an effort to protect its business, character and reputation against such defamatory attack, made an online post describing Mr. Isaac’s false and defamatory assertions made in his article. Though this same article was “updated” by Mr. Isaac thereafter, the update remains defamatory because it nevertheless maintains that the Babylon Bee is a “far-right misinformation site[] that use[s] ‘satire’ claims to protect their presence on the [Facebook] platform.”
Both versions of this article constitute defamation by libel, libel per se, and the tortious interference with business and contractual relations. As to the original version of your article, to ostensibly support its casted aspersions, it ironically links to another New York Times article from October 11, 2020 which is essentially a profile piece about the Babylon Bee being a legitimate satire website, and it contains no mention of “misinformation” whatsoever.
The “updated” version is no better because it names only the Babylon Bee as a purported far-right misinformation site in its discussion about sites which label themselves as satirical. Further, it insinuates that the Babylon Bee “has feuded with Facebook and the fact-checking site Snopes over whether site published misinformation or satire.” Yet, and as you should know, the Babylon Bee at that time was not feuding with Snopes as to whether it publishes satire or misinformation. To the contrary, at the time of your “update”, Snopes had already retracted any such insinuations with an editor’s note saying it was never their intent to call into question the Babylon Bee’s motives or legitimacy. In other words, Snopes denies that it ever intended to ascribe any such motives to the Babylon Bee, and therefore it is entirely misleading and malicious for you to characterize Snopes’ retraction as constituting a “feud”, for Snopes never stood by, nor does it stand by now, the claim that the Babylon Bee is a misinformation website as opposed to a satirical one. Further, as to Facebook, Facebook has actually issued a written apology to the Babylon Bee for mistakenly characterizing its content as “false news” instead of satire, and thus there is no “feud” with Facebook either.
Therefore, the Babylon Bee demands that the New York Times immediately publish a full and complete retraction of all versions of the above described article. Failure to do so will result in further damages to the Babylon Bee, which hereby reserves all of its rights to bring a lawsuit in this matter.
Govern yourselves accordingly.
Regards,
NASON, YEAGER, GERSON, HARRIS & FUMERO, P.A.
And if this doesn’t work, the boys at the Bee can always just shoot the sorry bastards. Sooner or later it’s gonna come down to that anyway.
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