Winston Churchill once said, "A joke is a very serious thing." Apparently, Donald Trump agrees, as he filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in February against comedian Bill Maher for breach of contract. Trump has since either developed a thicker skin or, more likely, been advised that his case would be SLAPPed out of court, as he recently dismissed the action, albeit with a promise to refile at a later date. The Donald’s lawsuit was destined for failure, as it not only was based on a desire to punish protected speech, but also fails to state a claim for simple breach of contract.
Maher putatively offended Trump during an interview with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in January when he aped Trump’s campaign antics and joked that he "would be willing to offer $5 million" for proof that Trump was not "the spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan." Trump claimed that Maher’s on-air discussion with Leno, although to a national audience, constituted a binding offer that he promptly accepted. Maher, unsurprisingly, has not paid up.
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