Penthouse (magazine)

===Editorial lawsuit===
In March 1975, ''Penthouse'' published an article headlined "La Costa: The Hundred-Million-Dollar Resort with Criminal Clientele", written by [[Jeff Gerth]] and [[Lowell Bergman]]. The article indicated that the [[La Costa Resort and Spa]] in [[Carlsbad, California]], was developed by [[Mervyn Adelson]] and [[Irwin Molasky]] using loans from the [[Teamsters]] Pension Fund and that the resort was a playground for organized crime figures. The owners, along with two officials of the resort, Morris B. [[Moe Dalitz]] and Allard Roen, filed a libel lawsuit for $522&nbsp;million against the magazine and the writers. In 1982, a jury absolved the magazine of any liability against the lawsuit from the owners. The plaintiffs appealed, but in December 1985, before a new trial could begin, the two sides settled. ''Penthouse'' issued a statement that they did not mean to imply that Adelson and Molaskey are or were members of organized crime. In turn the plaintiffs issued a statement lauding ''Penthouse'' publisher Guccione and his magazine for their "personal and professional awards". Total litigation costs were estimated to exceed $20 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-23/local/me-8091_1_la-costa |title=Court Revives La Costa Spa's Penthouse Suit |first=Myrna |last=Oliver |date=May 23, 1985 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=August 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1985-12-21/local/me-3043_1_la-costa-resort-owners |title=Penthouse, Resort End Legal Battle in a Draw |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first=Armando |last=Acuna |date=December 21, 1985 |access-date=August 1, 2019}}</ref>