Supreme Court Declines Steve Wynn Appeal on AP Defamation Case

^{Despite being a major political donor, ousted casino boss Steve Wynn was unsuccessful at getting the US Supreme Court to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), a landmark case guaranteeing certain press freedoms. (Image: Charles Krupa / AP)}

The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by casino mogul Steve Wynn, who had unsuccessfully sued the Associated Press for defamation and was attempting to challenge the “actual malice” standard for defamation cases brought by public figures.

That standard was set by the case of New York Times v. Sullivan in 1964, and has since be adopted by many states as well, including Nevada, where Wynn originally brought his case against the AP.

Wynn Sued Over Article Detailing Sexual Assault Complaints

There were no dissenting justices on the denial, which the court announced in its Monday morning order list. At least four justices must agree to hear a case for the Supreme Court to grant review. 

That total was seen as extremely unlikely to be met ahead of the case, especially after the Supreme Court didn’t even request a response to the petition from the AP. However, there were questions over whether justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch might be interested in a case challenging the precedent from the Sullivan case, as they’ve previously questioned that ruling. Yet neither Thomas nor Gorsuch chose to ask for a review of Wynn’s case.

Wynn first filed his defamation lawsuit in 2018, after the AP published an article that discussed two complaints filed with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department against Wynn in the 1970s, accusing him of sexual assault. Wynn sued the AP and the reporter who wrote the report, arguing that at least one of the complaints was clearly implausible, with a Nevada court having found that the complaint included “clearly fanciful or delusional” allegations against Wynn.

Nevada Courts Found Article Served Public Interest

However, Nevada courts found that Wynn had failed to show that the claims made by the AP were published with “actual malice.” The full Nevada Supreme Court upheld that ruling unanimously in September 2024, months after a three-judge panel made the same decision.

“The public had an interest in understanding the history of misconduct alleged to have been committed by one of the most recognized figures in Nevada, and the article directly relates to that interest,” Nevada Supreme Court Justice Ron Parraguirre wrote in the opinion. 

Wynn had hoped to have the defamation case heard in front of a jury. That issue was also part of his rejected appeal to the Supreme Court, in which he asked if imposing the “actual malice” standard in the early stages of legal proceedings violated his constitutional right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment. 

Wynn served as the CEO of Wynn Resorts from 2002 through 2018. In February 2018, Wynn resigned from that post due to accusations of sexual misconduct. 

That led two state regulators to fine Wynn Resorts in 2019, with the Nevada Gaming Commission hitting the company with a $20 million punishment for failing to investigate the allegations against Wynn, while the Massachusetts Gaming Commission punished Wynn Resorts and a top executive $35.5 million for failing to disclose those allegations when it applied for a casino license in Massachusetts.