When Esquire magazine was threatened with legal action for publishing a faux op-ed on its website purported to have been written by journalism professor and media visionary Jeff Jarvis, it removed the piece.
The real Jeff Jarvis wrote that Esquire is "not free ββand it most certainly is not responsible journalism ββ to try to fool the audience about the source of content and to impugn the reputation of a professional along the way."
Esquire, reported Politico, initially revised the April 26 post, changing the byline to "by @ProfJeffJarvis, a well-known satirist" and adding: "Editor's note: What follows is a piece of satire written in the voice of a satirical character."
Shortly after 9 p.m. on the day the article was posted, Esquire removed it entirely.
But when Esquire was issued a similar demand in 2011 after it published a website article that many mistook as real news β falsely claiming the WND Books exposΓ© "Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is Not Eligible To Be President" by Jerome Corsi had been recalled and repudiated by WND Books and its CEO, Joseph Farah β it only added a disclaimer insisting it had "committed satire" and refused to remove the post.
WND followed up with a $250 million defamation suit against Esquire magazine and its publisher, Hearst, seeking damages for the May 18, 2011, article by Executive Editor Mark Warren, which remains on Esquire's website.
In the WND case, Esquire claimed it "satirized the unwavering stance of a group at the center of the national public controversy over President Obamaβs birthplace and his legitimacy as President."
The publisher argued "speech on public issues occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values, and is entitled to special protection."
The WND suit, however, contended the article was not protected by the First Amendment, because its publication caused real damage by defaming WND and suppressing book sales. Many potential book buyers and media members clearly believed the article was a news story reporting the demise of the book, not a work of satire.
In a column published in January 2016, Farah said the Esquire article "had every major news organization in America fooled."
"My phone was ringing off the hook asking for verification of the report and for comments," he wrote.
"My only option was to sue Esquire, owned by the Hearst Corporation, my employer for a decade."
Ultimately, by a 2-1 split ruling of the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, the $250 million lawsuit was dismissed.