JACKSON — The Mississippi Supreme Court has revived a defamation lawsuit filed by former Gov. Phil Bryant and his wife against Mississippi Today and several of its journalists, ruling that the case was improperly dismissed by a lower court.
In a decision issued April 23, the high court reversed a Madison County Circuit Court order that dismissed the Bryants’ claims and sent the case back for further proceedings.
The Bryants sued Mississippi Today, reporter Anna Wolfe and others, alleging defamation, false light and loss of consortium tied to reporting about the misuse of federal welfare funds. A trial judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2025, finding the complaint failed to state a claim.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that Mississippi’s notice-pleading standard requires only that a complaint present a plausible claim for relief, not prove it at the outset.
The justices found that the Bryants’ complaint sufficiently alleged defamation, including claims that statements made by the news organization were false and published with actual malice — a key legal standard for public figures.
The court noted that the complaint repeatedly asserted actual malice and included specific examples of allegedly defamatory statements. At the motion-to-dismiss stage, the court said, those allegations must be accepted as true.
Mississippi Today argued that the claims were contradicted by statements and evidence referenced in the complaint. But the Supreme Court said such factual disputes are not appropriate to resolve before trial.
“A complaint does not prove evidence,” the court wrote, adding that dismissal is only proper when there is no possible set of facts that would entitle a plaintiff to relief.
The ruling also dismissed as moot the Bryants’ appeal of an earlier denial of partial summary judgment, finding that issue was no longer relevant after the filing of an amended complaint.
The case now returns to the Madison County Circuit Court for further proceedings.
