The Non-Disparagement Clause

Buried in the agreement. A few lines of legal text that mean: you can never tell your story.

Not “you can’t lie about us.” Not “you can’t share trade secrets.” You can’t say anything that makes us look bad. The truth makes us look bad? Then the truth is disparagement. The facts are unflattering? Then the facts are a breach.

The non-disparagement clause doesn’t protect reputation. It manufactures it. The only version of the story that survives is theirs — not because it’s true, but because yours is contractually silenced.

Every settlement has one. Every person who signs one knows what they’re giving up. They sign it anyway because the alternative is litigation, and litigation is a war of budgets, not facts.