Pershing Square Capital Management LP, which in December 2012 revealed a $1 billion bet against the weight loss and nutritional products company, said recent news reports it was behind the lawsuit, or had sued Herbalife itself, were false. It also said that, despite what it called Herbalife’s “misleading public suggestions,” U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles did not address whether Herbalife was an illegal pyramid scheme, as Ackman has contended.