I don't know, maybe.
Here's the Lionel video I referenced. You can listen to it to get some gory details. Lionel is an attorney, very smart, although he sometimes goes off the deep end and is something of a conspiracy theorist (he believes 9-11 was an inside job).
FWIW, he says there is a clear "cause for action" in this case, and that the publisher of BuzzFeed "published his own career suicide note" by going with this story.
“FWIW, he says there is a clear “cause for action” in this case, and that the publisher of BuzzFeed “published his own career suicide note” by going with this story.”
I thought the comments from the Buzzfeed publisher was an admission that he was committing “reckless disregard for the truth”, which I understand has been one of the libel/slander standards regarding public figures.
Any FR legal types want to weigh in on this?