The late Evel Knievel, a motorcycle daredevil, acquired considerable fame as a result of his widely publicized and dangerous stunts during a career that began in the mid-1960s. Knievel’s exploits have been featured in several books and movies and in a Smithsonian Museum exhibit. Prior to his death in 2007, Knievel served as an advertising spokesman for various well-known corporations. He also devoted considerable time to the promotion of antidrug and motorcycle safety programs. In 2001, ESPN held its Action Sports and Music Awards ceremony. Celebrities from the field of “extreme” sports attended, as did famous rap and heavy-metal musicians. Knievel, sometimes known as the “father of extreme sports,” attended along with his wife, Krystal. In one of the many photographs ESPN arranged to have taken at the ceremony, Knievel was pictured with his right arm around his wife and his left arm around an unidentified woman. Knievel was wearing rose-tinted sunglasses and a motorcycle jacket. The photograph of the Knievels and the unidentified woman was one of 17 photographs that ESPN published on the Green Carpet Gallery section of its EXPN.com website. That site featured information and photographs concerning motorcycle racing and various other “extreme” sports. The Green Carpet Gallery section was devoted to pictures of celebrity attendees of the Action Sports and Music Awards ceremony. A viewer who clicked on the Green Carpet Gallery icon was first directed to a photograph of two men grasping hands, with an accompanying caption stating that “Colin McKay and Cary Hart share the love.” By clicking on the “next” icon, the viewer could scroll through the remaining photographs and corresponding captions. A photograph of a woman in a black dress had this caption: “Tara Dakides lookin’ sexy, even though we all know she is hardcore.” Another photograph showed a sunglasses-wearing man, with a caption stating that “Ben Hinkley rocks the shades so the ladies can’t see him scoping.” The photograph of the Knievels was the tenth in the sequence and could not be viewed without first viewing the photographs that preceded it. Its caption read this way: “Evel Knievel proves that you’re never too old to be a pimp.” 

Evel and Krystal Knievel sued ESPN for defamation, contending that the caption, as used in connection with the photograph, falsely charged them with “immoral and improper behavior” and otherwise harmed their reputations. In particular, they alleged that after the publication of the photograph and caption, several of the corporations for which Evel had done product endorsements no longer wanted him associated with their products. ESPN moved to dismiss the Knievels’ complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief could be granted. According to the defendant, defamation could not have occurred because reasonable persons would not have interpreted the caption as an allegation that Evel was a criminal “pimp” or that Krystal was a prostitute. The federal district court granted the motion to dismiss. The Knievels appealed. Did the district court rule correctly?