WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court turned back an appeal Monday from casino mogul Steve Wynn, who had challenged a landmark libel ruling as part of a lawsuit against The Associated Press.

The court declined to hear the case in a brief order without comment, as is typical. Wynn had sued over a story about reports to police of sexual misconduct allegations dating back to the 1970s.

His attorneys had asked the high court to reconsider the 1964 ruling known as New York Times v. Sullivan. It found that public figures in defamation suits must show a statement is not only false, but was published knowing or with reckless disregard to it being untrue.

Wynn filed his defamation lawsuit in April 2018 against the AP. — Associated Press