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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A defamation suit filed against Netflix Inc. by subjects of its 2018 unscripted series "Afflicted" about people with chronic illnesses has been dropped.
Plaintiffs Jamison Hill, Pilar Olave, Jill Edelstein and Bekah Dinnerstein alleged in a lawsuit brought in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2019 that they were duped by Netflix and other defendants into participating in a salacious reality television program that questioned the existence of their chronic illnesses and portrayed them as lazy, crazy hypochondriacs.
An attorney for the plaintiffs filed court papers on Tuesday with Judge Armen Tamzarian asking that the case be dismissed "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled. The court papers do not state if a settlement was reached or if the case was not being pursued for other reasons.
In April 2022, a panel of the Second District Court of Appeal rejected Netflix's effort to bid to dismiss the suit on free-speech grounds. The justices ruled the consent releases the plaintiffs signed were unenforceable because they were allegedly pressured to waive their rights not to be defamed.