Lawyers for pioneering chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili filed papers on Tuesday suggesting a settlement in federal court. Her defamation lawsuit against Netflix over what it described as a “devastating lie” about her in the fictional hit series The Queen’s Gambit.
The agreement came about a year after Gaprindashvili. First woman named Grandmaster, sued Netflix over a line in the final episode of the series that mentioned her name and falsely stated that she had “never faced a man.” In fact, Gaprindashvili has faced many male champions throughout her career, including before the episode in question.
In an interview with The New York Times last year, Gaprinda Shvili described her portrayal on the show as an “insulting experience.”
“We are happy that the matter has been resolved,” said Alexander Rufus Isaacs, Gaprindashvili’s attorney. He offered no further comment and declined to say how the case was resolved or whether any money had been handed over.
In court documents filed in June, lawyers for Gaprindashvili and Netflix said the parties are working with the Ninth Circuit mediators to seek a settlement.
Netflix echoed Rufus-Isaacs’ remarks, saying only, “I’m glad the issue has been resolved.”
In court documents, Netflix was exercising its “constitutional right to free speech in relation to public issues,” and the line in question was “a fictional television series that addresses many important issues of public interest.” It includes the challenges women faced in the male-dominated elite world of chess in the 1960s. “
“The First Amendment protects a creator’s artistic license to include this line in a fictional series,” Netflix lawyers said in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.