They were not “silent”, they simply did not give false stories any additional air. When people who do not want to be identified say things, there is no reason to speak to them. They did not do damage to the company by being silent. Other persons continued to do their work in the shadows, and the best way to deal with that is legally, and legally means, not compounding or complicating the subject matter with extraneous statements that can then be used to manipulate legal claims and also legal defenses.
So no, probably was right to be quiet. I expect they got that counsel from multiple excellent advisors. And of course they did not have unlimited funds to do tie up the company instead of proceeding with what they needed to proceed with on a show string budget. It is getting all tied up and focused on these false rumor mongers that actually kills small companies already with low resources. That is the reality. They kept their eyes on the prize. No distractions.