National News A wealthy teenager, a 5-star hotel, and a bizarre defamation fight A teenager turned away by a bar in one of Manhattan’s fanciest hotels started a campaign to sully its reputation, a lawsuit says. The hotel is suing him for defamation. The Mark Hotel in Manhattan on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020. George Etheredge / The New York Times NEW YORK — The trouble began in August 2021, according to the claims in an unusual lawsuit filed in July, when Theodore Weintraub was 17 and attempted something of an American rite of passage: buying alcohol with a fake ID....