Facts

Timothy Forsyth filed a putative class action against the Motion Picture Association of America Inc., its member studios, and the National Association of Theatre Owners, concerning the assignment of movie ratings for movies with any tobacco imagery.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff contended that there was a correlation, even a causal relationship, between children's exposure to tobacco images in movies and increased levels of tobacco use and addiction. Plaintiff sought a legal determination that movies depicting any tobacco use must be assigned no lower than an "R" rating, subject to very narrow exceptions. Doing so, plaintiff contended, would prevent millions in premature deaths.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendants filed an anti-SLAPP motion or, alternatively, moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim for relief.

Result

The court granted defendant's special motion to strike and motion to dismiss, holding that plaintiff's claim was subject to the anti-SLAPP statute, had no reasonable probability of succeeding, and alternatively, that the complaint failed to state a claim for relief.