Netflix Settles $ 5 Million “Queen’s Gambit” Case – Update

Updated with regulation, 1:25 pm: Netflix settles a $ 5 million lawsuit filed against the streamer for limited success move of the queen Terms of the deal reached today were not announced.

The lawsuit was brought by Soviet chess icon Nona Gaprindashvili, who claimed sexism and historical inaccuracy in the series, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon. In the final episode, when Harmon plays a stressful match against a male opponent in Moscow in 1968, the commentator says: “There is Nona Gafrindashvili, but she is a female world champion and she has never met a man.”

Read the case details below.

Previously, January 27: Netflix shares continue to rise after a tough week, but the streamer took a hit in court on Thursday. move of the queen

A federal judge denied a streamer’s desire to watch the $ 5 million lawsuit of sacked Soviet chess icon Nona Gafrindashvili for alleged sexism and historical inaccuracy against the multiple Emmy Award-winning limited series.

“Netflix has not sued, and the Court is not aware of, any case precluding defamation claims for the depiction of real people in fictional works,” wrote US District Judge Virginia A. Phillips in a published ruling. today (read here). “The fact that the series was a work of fiction does not protect Netflix from liability for defamation if all elements of defamation are represented.”

Breaking down gender barriers at the highest levels of chess in the 1960s, Georgia-born Gaprindashvili (a country, not a US state), protested the “game over” line in the final episode of the limited series, which in reality represents it. Lifetime Achievement The imaginary prodigy of Anya Taylor-Joy against Beth Harmon. “The only unusual thing about her is really her gender, and even that is not unique to Russia,” says one commentator as Harmon plays a stressful match against a man in Moscow in 1968. “There is Nona Gafrindashvili, but she’s a world champion and has never met a man, “said Scott in the Frank and Alan Scott series based on Walter Tew’s 1983 novel.

A partial line for some, but clearly not true.

“The accusation that Gaprindashvili ‘has never met men’ is blatantly false, and is also blatantly sexist and derogatory,” reads the defamation complaint of the chess legend filed in September 2021.

In 1968, the year in which this episode took place, he had beaten at least 59 men at chess (28 of them in one game at a time), including at least ten great masters of the time, including Dragoliub Velimirović, Svetozar Gligorić, Pol. Keres, Bojan Kurajitsa, Boris Spassky, Viswanathan Anand and Mikhail Tal. They have also been world champions in the last three races.

We took the successful artistic license of FX and Ryan Murphy and took liberties to the indignation of the late great Olivia de Havilland at her performance. Enmity A few years ago, and with its own anti-SLAPP flags, Netflix tried to show that, at best, a small inaccuracy was made. They also claimed that the core of the series was a feminist narrative. Also, just to play chess, the streamer went on to say that Gafrindashvili’s line shouldn’t matter because move of the queen it had a disclaimer and was “entirely a work of fiction,” despite mentioning real people like the plaintiff and real events from the Cold War era.

Putting Strimmer in a bad position as a bishop, the judge said First.

“Although there is fiction around the line, the court cannot ignore that the line refers to real people and events and, more importantly, the line identifies a real person, the actor, by name, refers to his real career. and then it shows an actor sitting in the audience who looks like the plaintiff., – write today.

“Not only does this bridge the gap between an alleged fictional character’s association with a real person, but regardless of whether viewers recognized the actor’s name (as indeed some did), viewers could reasonably have believed. that the comment was one of these historical details “in the series,” concluded Phillips.

Gaprindashvili has called for a jury trial and this could all end. However, although the streamer hasn’t commented on today’s decision, don’t be surprised if Netflix eventually ditches the game, so to speak, and settles for it.

Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.