In an opinion today, Judge Engelmayer dismissed all claims brought by retired Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau against the makers of the “30 for 30” documentary about the Jets 1980 defensive line, colloquially known as the “New York Sack Exchange.” Gastineau’s main grievance was that the documentary misleadingly portrayed a tense interaction with Brett Favre, who Gastineau accuses of taking a “dive” in 2001 so that Giants defensive end Michael Strahan could eclipse Gastineau’s single-season sack record. According to Gastineau, the incident was deceptively edited to omit context showing that, in fact, he harbored no animosity towards Favre.
Judge Engelmayer first dismissed Gastineau’s breach of contract claim, which was premised on a contract term that, all parties agreed, was missing a critical word: “all modified use of the [missing word] must be approved by” Gastineau. Judge Engelmayer found that the missing word could not have referred to the entire “Project,” as Gastineau argued, because that would “have improbably given [Gastineau] sovereignty over” anything included in the film, and would contradicted another provision waiving his right to review or approve the film in advance.
Judge Engelmayer also concluded that Gastineau failed to state a claim for state law invasion of privacy (NYCRL § 50) because he voluntarily agreed to participate in the film and because, in all events, the matters depicted fell within the newsworthiness exception: “Gastineau’s public confrontation of Favre, although seemingly puerile . . . is newsworthy in that the participants were nationally recognized football stars (Favre is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame) [and] the exchange between them concerned a venerated NFL record . . . .”