Phillies’ Ryan Howard sues Al Jazeera over drug-use story

Ryan Zimmerman has sued Al Jazeera America over alleged defamation related to their report last month that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Al Jazeera’s main source in the report, former pharmaceutical intern Charlie Sly, has since recanted his story used in the investigation. Their irresponsible reporting forced me to take this action to protect my name and to fight back against the spreading of these lies. “The suit speaks for itself, and I have no plans to discuss this any further”.

The suit also said Zimmerman had not known Sly for six years, and that Zimmerman “has never received any banned substances” from Sly.

Al Jazeera’s report, called “The Dark Side“, predominately featured Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

William Burck of Quinn Emanuel, the attorney for Zimmerman, has requested the suit be decided by jury trial.

As a public figure, Zimmerman will undoubtedly need to show actual malice on Al Jazeera’s part to prevail in a defamation lawsuit. Howard was among those who “emphatically denied” the allegation of taking any PEDs to Al Jazeera, the network says in the video.

MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki shared the statement released by Howard on Tuesday regarding the lawsuit.

Sly backtracked in a subsequent statement to Al Jazeera, saying Collins secretly recorded his conversations without his knowledge or consent.

Howard, who shares an attorney with Zimmerman, will also sue, according to Jim Salisbury of Comcast Sportsnet. Manning called the charge “a freaking joke”.

No retraction was issued, and now they have filed a suit. “I don’t want to deal with that until after the season”. Other U.S. athletes named in the report included National Football League players Clay Matthews, Mike Neal, Julius Peppers and James Harrison, SB Nation reported.

Zimmerman’s representatives claim the defendants publicly smeared the Washington Nationals veteran with “false and unsubstantiated allegations of performance-enhancing drug use, based on uncorroborated accusations by a third party that had been unequivocally recanted prior to defendants’ publication”.