• by Wendy Davis , July 27, 2026

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is pressing a federal court to allow him to proceed with his claim against Meta over fake endorsements for CBD gummies.

In papers filed late last week with U.S. District Judge Gregory Williams in Delaware, Huckabee argues the allegations in his complaint, if proven true, would show that Meta violated an Arkansas law by making "commercial" use of his name, image and likeness.

His latest filing comes in a battle dating to July 2024, when Huckabee -- currently U.S. ambassador to Israel -- sued Meta over Facebook ads with fake CBD endorsements.

Huckabee claimed that Meta violated Arkansas's misappropriation law, the Frank Broyles Publicity Rights Protection Act. That law, named for University of Arkansas coach Frank Broyles, gives state residents the right to control the commercial use of their names and images.

Huckabee's complaint included allegations that he spoke with "numerous fans" who believed the ads were true and purchased CBD products.

"Because Meta approved and maintained advertisements that unauthorizedly used and exploited plaintiff’s name, photograph, and likeness, plaintiff is now wrongly associated with the CBD industry," he added.

Meta sought an early dismissal on several grounds -- including that the allegations, even if proven true, would not show that Meta itself used Huckabee's name and likeness for its commercial benefit.

"The only commercial benefit that Meta is alleged to have received was revenue it earned as a distributor of the third-party content, which is unrelated to the contents of the challenged advertisements and the alleged appropriation of plaintiff’s name and likeness," Meta argued to Williams.

Huckabee is now asking Williams to reject that argument.

"Critically important, the Broyles Act specifically defines commercial use as advertising, and moreover, the statute does not exempt service providers, such as Meta, just because they may not create the ads," his counsel argues.

Earlier in the case Williams dismissed Huckabee's misappropriation claim on the grounds that the allegations, if true, would not show that Meta knew the ads were fake.

But last month, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling and reinstated the claim, pointing to three allegations with regard to the ads that, if true, could have put Meta on notice that the endorsements were phony.

The first allegation was that the ads were "premised on a development that Huckabee, a public figure and 'lifelong opponent of marijuana and its derivatives -- i.e., CBD,' ... is now endorsing CBD products."

The second was that Facebook previously "hosted similar, fraudulent CBD advertisements using the name, image, and likeness of other media personalities, and that news outlets reported on those instances."

The third allegation was that one of the ads linked to a fake Fox News site.

"That bogus link, when coupled with the unusual association of Huckabee and CBD and the prior fraudulent CBD advertisements on Facebook, suffices for allegations that Meta was plausibly 'aware of facts or circumstances' from which the advertisements’ misuse of Huckabee’s name, image, or likeness was 'apparent,'" Circuit Judge Peter Phipps wrote in an opinion joined by Judges Emil Bove and Arianna Freeman.

The judges returned the matter to Williams for additional proceedings, including arguments regarding Meta's contention that Huckabee's allegations would not warrant a conclusion that it made "commercial" use of his name or image.