OPINION & ORDER If the Internet is akin to the Wild West, as many have suggested, Twitter is, perhaps, the shooting gallery, where verbal gunslingers engage in prolonged hyperbolic crossfire. It is in this context of battle by tweet that the conduct at issue in this defamation case was born. Plaintiff Charles Ganske, a journalist, alleges that Defendant Louise Daphne Mensch, a blogger and former member of Britain’s Parliament, defamed him and interfered with his employment as a result of a tweet that she posted on July 27, 2018 at 12:32 a.m. (the “Tweet”). Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s single Tweet, which “interjected” herself into an ongoing conversation between Plaintiff and a third party, who called himself “Conspirator”, contained numerous defamatory statements. Now before the Court is Defendant’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Because the Court concludes that the allegedly defamatory statements in Defendant’s Tweet are nonactionable statements of opinion, the motion is granted. BACKGROUND1 I. Extrinsic Evidence As an initial matter, Defendant asks the Court to take judicial notice of extrinsic evidence in reviewing her motion to dismiss. With her motion, she has submitted several exhibits on which she relies heavily in urging the dismissal of Plaintiff’s claims. See Dkt. 22. Generally, “[i]n considering a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), a district court must limit itself to facts stated in the complaint or in documents attached to the complaint as exhibits or incorporated in the complaint by reference.” Kramer v. Time Warner Inc., 937 F.2d 767, 773 (2d Cir. 1992). A district court nonetheless “has the discretion to take judicial notice of internet materials.” BSH Hausgerate, GmbH v. Kamhi, 282 F. Supp. 3d 668, 670 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. 2017). For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants in part and denies in part Defendant’s request to take judicial notice of the extrinsic evidence. First, the Court will take judicial notice of Defendant’s “Exhibit 3,” which — in addition to the Tweet at issue here — displays two other tweets that Defendant posted on July 27, 2018, approximately twenty minutes before the Tweet, all of which related to the same topic. See Dkt. 22, Att. 6 (July 27, 2018 Tweets). These two other tweets are part and parcel of Defendant’s “interject[ion]” into “ the conversation (thread) between Ganske and “Conspirator”.” Compl. 14. Therefore, to look only at the Tweet — rather than all three tweets posted during this twenty-minute span — would not provide the necessary or proper context for understanding Defendant’s statements that morning. See Condit v. Dunne, 317 F. Supp. 2d 344, 357-58 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (taking judicial notice of documents that “aid the Court in its determination of whether plaintiff states a claim for relief [for slander]” and that help “ place [the defendant's] comments in the broader social context”). Courts are permitted to take judicial notice “of documents that are ‘integral to the complaint’” and “of materials in the public record…for the limited purpose of noting what the documents state, rather than to ‘prove the truth of their contents.’” Hesse v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., No. 19-CV-972 (AJN), 2020 WL 2793014, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. May 29, 2020). Because Defendant’s two other July 27, 2018 tweets are integral to the allegations in the complaint and necessary to place her comments in context, the Court will take judicial notice of Defendant’s “Exhibit 3.” The Court will not, however, consider Defendant’s other exhibits, including those displaying tweets posted by Defendant, Plaintiff, and third parties prior to July 27, 2018. See Def.’s Mot. at 12; Dkt. 22. The focus of the complaint is on Defendant’s July 27, 2018 statements. While the two other tweets posted by Defendant that morning provide essential context for reviewing the Tweet’s allegedly defamatory statements, tweets posted in the days and months prior to July 27, 2018 do not offer the same immediate relevance. Nor is it even clear whether Defendant’s exhibits include all of the tweets posted during that time frame and thus provide a full picture of the Twitter communications between the parties prior to and on July 27, 2018. See Oakley v. Dolan, No. 17-CV-6903 (RJS), 2020 WL 818920, at *6 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 19, 2020) (declining to take judicial notice of tweets because the defendants do not explain why this is “competent evidence that must be considered at the motion to dismiss stage instead of on a motion for summary judgment or at trial”). Accordingly, the Court considers on this motion solely Defendant’s tweets of July 27, 2018, contained in Defendant’s “Exhibit 3.”2 II. Factual Background Plaintiff is a 37-year old journalist. From 2005 to 2007, “[a]s part of his job, he edited a website, www.russiablog.org, wrote press releases, authored op-eds, and assisted in drafting fundraiser letters and grant applications.” Compl. 8. After a hiatus from journalism, Plaintiff returned in March 2011 to work “as [the] Central Region Broadcast News Editor for the Associated Press (‘AP’) in Chicago, Illinois.” Id. From 2016 to 2018, still at the AP, Plaintiff served as the “National Sports Broadcast Editor” and the “Social Media/UGC specialist in Chicago.” Id. According to Plaintiff, “[i]n his seven-and-one-half years with the AP, [he] received positive evaluations from his colleagues in Chicago and London for his UGC work and dedication to acquiring user generated content with tact and professionalism” and had “an untarnished reputation in the journalism industry.” Id. Defendant Mensch is a former member of Britain’s Parliament and editor of Heat Street, “a ‘news’ site.” Id. 9. Defendant is now “a full-time blogger” and “maintains and operates multiple Twitter accounts, including “LouiseBagshawe (suspended), “LouiseMensch, and “patribotics.” Id.
1, 9 (emphasis omitted). Plaintiff asserts that “Mensch was one of the propagandists who, for over two years, heavily promoted the now completely debunked Russia collusion hoax” and that she “trolls Twitter and claims to expose ‘Russian’ influence on and off the platform.” Id.
