This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

From 2011 to 2016, P and D had what both parties characterize as a rocky, on-and-off sexual relationship. P's libel claim arises from a November 2017 email D circulated to around 40 friends and industry colleagues, describing her experiences in the relationship and her feeling that D had used his age and status to harass and take advantage of her. D's claim centers on, among other communications, an email P sent to around 80 people in May 2018 saying her accusations were false, presenting his side of the story and including explicit text messages between the two. D, an aspiring young saxophonist, met P, a prominent saxophonist when she attended a 2009 workshop he gave in New York City. P was 52 years old and D was 17. D was visiting the United States from her home in Switzerland, asked P for a lesson and, after first saying he did not work with beginners, he agreed. D moved to New York City in 2011, at which point she and P did begin a sexual relationship, though they disagree about who initiated it. P was married and saw other women, and D also had other relationships. D would later say she felt pressured to have sex with P in order for him to continue teaching and working with her, and to avoid his anger. She said she was in love with him, was 'slightly manipulative' and sometimes initiated sex, which 'was never physically forced.' P says the relationship was fully consensual, often with D pursuing him, and that he helped her gain valuable work experience and an O-1 visa. They split temporarily in 2013, following an argument D says was occasioned by P's wife asking for a divorce. Their relationship resumed in 2014 and continued on and off for the next two years with increasing antagonism, especially when they toured together. Their final sexual encounter was in September 2016. D told P's manager she no longer wanted to work with D. In May and October 2017, D wrote in emails and texts to P that she intended to speak publicly about her concerns with their relationship, centered on P pursuing her despite the gap in their age and status. She posted on Facebook in October that, after former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's arrest for sex crimes, she was glad 'skeletons are coming out.' P saw this diatribe as 'threats.' D flat-out denies that they were. D also wrote an email to P's estranged wife in November saying she intended to speak publicly. On November 5, 2017, D emailed seven friends, asking for help proofreading an open letter on her relationship with P before she shared it more broadly. On November 17, D sent the finalized seven-page letter to around 40 people, mostly industry colleagues. It recounted her history with P, but called him 'X' because, she said, naming him would be 'legally dangerous.' D said the letter described her 'experience with' 'sexism in the music industry,' motivated by her desire to 'start [] a larger conversation' on the subject. She felt conversations on sexism were 'long overdue,' then detailed what she called an 'abusive dynamic' and 'sexual harassment' in her relationship with P, focusing on the post-2013 period. She described various encounters she said disturbed her, such as waking up to find 'X' in her hotel bed and having to convince him to leave. But, the letter also acknowledged that she had fallen in love with him and that she was grateful for their time together. 'Simply, the highs were very high and the lows were very low.' D claimed that, despite her anxiety and reluctance to 'say something,' she was 'speaking out' to create change in the industry. P claims this is defamatory: 'About 6 months after I moved to New York in 2011, he convinced me to be intimate with him'; 'By that point [in 2013], though, I wasn't in love with him anymore. I didn't want to be intimate with him anymore. That period is when the sexual harassment started.'; and 'He would call me in the middle of the night and never take no for an answer.' P claims he found out about D's email in January 2018. He testified that he lost band members as a result of it, and experienced embarrassment and lost productivity. To cope, he began receiving massages and seeing a psychotherapist. On May 5, 2018, P emailed a letter of his own to around 80 people. He said he was 'writing this letter to categorically denounce [D's] accusation as false, and to appeal to you to hear both sides of the story before reflexively rushing to judgment.' P gave his version of the relationship. He said it 'was unusual, intense, argumentative, and passionate, but it was also completely consensual and should have been private.' He said each pursued the other, and he never threatened D or forced her to do anything, 'which thoroughly refutes Maria's accusations of sexual harassment.' He called her sexually aggressive and manipulative. P filed the instant case on October 10, 2018, making D's email and letter available on the Court's public docket. Beginning almost immediately, he lost numerous bookings and a teaching job. Venues cited the lawsuit, headlines about it, and their institutions' related concerns. P's expert estimates his losses topped $1.2 million. D claims she lost work due to P's statements, as well as during their relationship when she alleges he only booked her if she slept with him. Both parties moved for summary judgment.

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