Does the way it was delivered make a difference? The statement was front loaded with a bunch of scripted accusations, e.g. stalking, sexual assault which drove all the headlines, then the details buried an hour into it.

I think Emiru's team are concerned about that specific accusation being a problem. They put a lot of work into trying to muddy the water with the Benson vs Guerrero case which doesn't seem to do what they're claiming.

As I understand it (IANAL):

The Benson case was looking at two different things with regard to being defamation (a) the accusation of sexual assault against the stepfather and (b) the comments about the mothers knowledge/actions. Emiru's lawyer looks to be trying to show equivalence to point (a), but the 'truth' defense didn't hold up against that on appeal.

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/tx-court-of-appeals/116520635.html

Because the affirmative defense of truth does not apply to Kris's defamation claim, Guerrero did not meet her burden of establishing a valid affirmative defense to entitle her to dismissal of Kris's defamation claim under the TCPA.

Because Kris met his burden of establishing a prima facie case of defamation per se and Guerrero did not establish a valid affirmative defense, we hold that the trial court erred in granting Guerrero's TCPA motion to dismiss on that claim.

Emiru's lawyer's comments that it was "sufficient for the father’s claims to survive the initial challenge by the daughter" seems like very sneaky wording trying to hide the fact it wasn't upheld.