(HorizonPost.com) – The United States Supreme Court turned down a highly publicized cancel culture case, which originated from a 2019 incident involving a high schooler from Kentucky and a Native American man. The high schooler in question is Nicholas Sandmann, who made national headlines after he attended a conservative march event, which led him to encounter an indigenous people celebration.
During the celebration, Sandmann stood face-to-face with Nathan Phillips, causing some media outlets to claim that Sandmann displayed racist beliefs by seemingly confronting Phillips. Phillips claimed that Sandmann purposely stood in his way to block him from marching, but Sandmann said that Phillips initiated the encounter by confronting him for wearing a Donald Trump hat. Several other people in the area corroborated Sandmann’s claims, but media outlets quickly contacted Phillips for his story.
Phillips quickly shared his account of the altercation with various media outlets, including USA Today, which reported that Sandmann interrupted the indigenous people’s celebration due to his political beliefs. Sandmann publicly expressed his support for former President Donald Trump before his interaction with Phillips and said he suffered from cancel culture following the highly publicized scandal. Sandmann eventually filed a libel lawsuit against several media outlets, which failed to succeed in the lower courts.
Sandmann’s lawsuit failed to reach its opening stages as a court dismissed the libel action filed against USA Today and other media outlets. Sandmann’s primary accusation in the legal action was that USA Today misled the general public and lied about Sandmann’s actions, indicating that the high schooler harbored racist beliefs regarding Native American people. The outlets featured in the lawsuit were USA Today, ABC, CBS, and other nationally published media organizations.
Sandmann initially demanded more than $1 billion in damages from the aforementioned media outlets for libel, but a Kentucky judge dismissed the lawsuit and claimed that statements contested by Sandmann originated from Phillips and were thus opinionated and not libelous. Sandmann then appealed the unfavorable dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal and claimed that Sandmann’s claims weren’t merited. Sandmann then attempted to appeal to the United States Supreme Court, which denied a chance for review.
Sandmann’s cancel culture experience would’ve been the first case to reach the Supreme Court regarding the growing social justice movement. Sandmann claims that his altercation with Phillips caused him personal strife and ruined his chances at everyday life due to online audiences harassing him and sharing his personal information. Former President Donald Trump seemingly agrees with Sandmann and said that the media intentionally misled the general public about the controversial encounter, causing Sandmann to suffer due to cancel culture. Sandmann said that national media organizations targeted him due to his political beliefs, a common sentiment amongst those featured in cancel culture efforts.
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