VAN NUYS (CNS) - Friday's scheduled hearing on gossip blogger Enty Lawyer's motion to dismiss "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" cast member Diana Jenkins' defamation suit has been postponed a month so the two sides can discuss a possible settlement.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Van Nuys Superior Court Shirley K. Watkins signed an order Monday approving the postponement and rescheduling the hearing for July 6.
The two sides began talks May 27 toward a potential resolution of the case, according to the lawyers' joint court papers, which also were filed Monday.
"The parties' initial discussions suggest that settlement and resolution of this matter may be possible," the attorneys' joint papers state.
Jenkins alleges in her suit filed Nov. 2 that Enty Lawyer has repeatedly defamed her with false allegations, including that she has engaged in sex trafficking of children, coerced vulnerable celebrities into prostitution, was associated with the late Jeffrey Epstein and that she committed money laundering and statutory rape.
"I am many things, but I am not the person Enty Lawyer has cast me to be," Jenkins says in a sworn declaration. "I am not, nor have I ever been, a sex trafficker, a madam or a criminal. I have suffered significant reputational harm from Enty Lawyer's false and offensive statements about me. My family has been threatened with violence, and my reputation has been irreparably tarnished."
Jenkins' sworn declaration was filed in opposition to Enty Lawyer's anti-SLAPP dismissal motion. Anti-SLAPP laws provide defendants a way to quickly dismiss meritless lawsuits known as SLAPPs or Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
Enty Lawyer's anti-SLAPP motion maintains that Jenkins' complaint infringes on his First Amendment rights. He says in a sworn declaration that his November 2021 tweet about Jenkins and Epstein was based on a photo he saw of Epstein, former President Trump and a "laughing woman" whom he previously believed was Jenkins.