{"id":112239,"date":"2019-08-14T17:18:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T00:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=112239"},"modified":"2019-08-16T13:25:45","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T20:25:45","slug":"cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/","title":{"rendered":"Cayuga Nation Sues Hit Showtime Series ‘Billions’ for Defamation Over \u2018Offensive\u2019 Portrayal"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York State\u2019s Cayuga Nation is suing the Showtime network over an episode of its hit show Billions<\/em>, which it claims defamed the tribe while pushing an \u201coffensive stereotype\u201d of Native Americans as \u201cirresponsible, corruptible, and even criminal\u201d casino owners.<\/p>\n

\"Cayuga
Billions<\/em> stars Damian Lewis (left) and Paul Giamatti. The Cayuga Nation claims the show was \u201cpatently offensive and defamatory\u201d in its depiction of the tribe in an episode that aired in May. (Image: Showtime)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in the state Supreme Court in New York City complains that an episode that aired May 5 depicted the tribe using its real name and even the name of one its leaders —\u00a0although at least Billions<\/em>\u2019 writers went to the trouble of changing real-life Cayuga chief Clint Halftown\u2019s gender.<\/p>\n

In the show, the character \u201cJane Halftown\u201d is a council member of the “Cayuga Iroquois” who participates in blackmailing and bribing a government official.<\/p>\n

\u2018False and Defamatory\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The episode also included a \u201cfalse and defamatory narrative that the Nation and Council Member Halftown had previously been engaged in a casino land deal and an illegal revenue-sharing arrangement,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

The Cayuga Nation belongs to the Iroquois language family. But unlike the tribe depicted in the episode, it does not operate full-scale casino gaming \u2013 just a couple of class II electronic bingo parlors in upstate New York under the name of Lakeside Entertainment.<\/p>\n

\n

Billions<\/em> stars Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis, whose characters are based on, respectively, former US District Attorney for the State of New York Preet Bharara<\/a> and hedge fund manager Steve Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors. But the lawsuits notes these characters\u2019 names have been changed completely from the real-world people they loosely depict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The lawsuit argues the picture the episode painted of the tribe was \u201cpatently offensive and defamatory\u201d and is seeking unspecified damages.<\/p>\n

The Nation is concerned the portrayal could prejudice its long-standing and so-far-unsuccessful quest to have the US Interior Department take land into trust for the tribe, a condition that could one day allow it to offer full-scale casino gaming. Its latest application is currently under review.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical to that review is a confirmation that the application accurately described the Nation\u2019s business operations,” the lawsuit states. “Thus, a false statement regarding the nature and type of the Nation\u2019s gaming operations may be injurious, and perhaps even fatal, to that application.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writers Named as Defendants<\/h2>\n

Also named as defendants are the show\u2019s creators Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Koppelman and Levien were the writing team behind cult poker movie Rounders<\/em>, which is often cited as a contributing factor to the poker boom of the 2000s.<\/p>\n

Their Billions<\/em> protagonist, Chuck Rhoades, also has a poker connection. His real-world counterpart, Bharara, was the man who, in 2011, led the \u201cBlack Friday\u201d prosecutions against the three biggest online poker sites serving US players, PokerStars, Full Tilt, and the CEREUS Network. Bharara has been credited with ending the aforementioned poker boom.<\/p>\n

Billions\u2019<\/em> credits include a disclaimer asserting that \u201call characters are fictional and that any resemblance to an actual person is coincidental.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York State\u2019s Cayuga Nation is suing the Showtime network over an episode of its hit show Billions, which it claims defamed the tribe while pushing an \u201coffensive stereotype\u201d of Native Americans as \u201cirresponsible, corruptible, and even criminal\u201d casino owners. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in the state Supreme Court in New York City complains that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":112244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCayuga Nation Sues Hit Showtime Series 'Billions' for Defamation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cayuga Nation of New York state claims an episode of Showtime depicted the tribe as \u201ccorruptible and criminal,\u201d which was \u201coffensive and defamatory.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cayuga Nation Sues Hit Showtime Series 'Billions' for Defamation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cayuga Nation of New York state claims an episode of Showtime depicted the tribe as \u201ccorruptible and criminal,\u201d which was \u201coffensive and defamatory.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-15T00:18:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-16T20:25:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/billions.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2070\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/\",\"name\":\"Cayuga Nation Sues Hit Showtime Series 'Billions' for Defamation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/billions.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-15T00:18:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-16T20:25:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Cayuga Nation of New York state claims an episode of Showtime depicted the tribe as \u201ccorruptible and criminal,\u201d which was \u201coffensive and defamatory.\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cayuga-nation-sues-hit-showtime-series-billions-for-defamation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/billions.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/billions.jpg\",\"width\":2070,\"height\":1380,\"caption\":\"Billions stars Paul Giamatti (left) and Damian Lewis. 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