Hill, who resigned from her position as congressional representative at October of 2019, dropped the lawsuit against the Daily Mail, in which lewd photos were printed of her involved in a romantic relationship with one of her staffers.
“Here, the romantic images printed by (the Daily Mail) talked to (Hill’s) character and credentials for her place, since they supposedly portrayed (Hill) with a campaign staffer whom she had been alleged to have experienced a sexual affair with and seemed to reveal (Hill) with a then-illegal drug and demonstrating a tattoo which was contentious because it resembled a white supremacy symbol that had become an issue during her congressional effort,” said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Yolanda Orozco in a statement on April 8.
Hill had sued her ex-husband, Kenneth Heslep, the parent firms for the websites Daily Mail and RedState, as well as William S. Hart Union High School District Board Member Joe Messina, according to the 41-page legal document filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in December 2020.
The lawsuit sought damages, where the amount isn’t given, for emotional distress and violation of state law to the distribution of nude photographs without Hill’s approval.
Hill alleges her entire life was”irreparably altered from the abuse and nonconsensual dissemination and publication of her intimate images,” the suit said.
Messina was connected to the case when Hill alleged that after getting explicit photos of her, Messina failed to report them to law authorities and then told the public regarding their information as host of”The Real Side” radio show. Hill claimed the activities were a part of a conspiracy to commit a violation of California’s revenge porn legislation.
“They had nothing from day one on me and they even said in the deposition they were really fighting to tie it all together,” Messina said. “At the very last minute, they decided to drop it with me”
Some of the contentious photos published by The Daily Mail portrayed Hill in a romantic relationship with one of her campaign staffers, resulting in rumors that she had been at a”throuple” with the staffer and her then-husband, based on Fox News officials.
Dismissing the case Wednesday, Orozco cited the First Amendment and dominated the Daily Mail photographs were at the”public interest.”
Messina noted that he is”exploring options” for a return lawsuit against Hill, as the allegations laid against him led to repeated harassment, not just online but via comments at William S. Hart District School Board meetings, in addition to threats for his personal safety sent to his wife.
“I did not do anything wrong. I never spoke to Kenny (Heslep), I could never expect him to call mepersonally, so the only things that I talked about was that which I understood was true, I read in her own texts,” Messina said. “It is going to be challenging to turn it around because (Hill) accused a school board of sharing revenge porn.”
