take that, es!
Tony Parker sues website
By the Associated Press
December 20, 2007
Tony Parker has sued a celebrity gossip Web site that published stories claiming he had an affair with a French model.
The San Antonio Spurs star sued X17online.com on Wednesday in Superior Court, alleging it posted a series of "false and defamatory" stories claiming Parker cheated on his wife, actress Eva Longoria. He's seeking at least $40 million in damages.
"This is false. It never happened. And X17 had to know that the story was false, or, at the very least, it had to have entertained serious doubts about the credibility of its supposed source," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alleged that X17 never contacted Parker, Longoria or their representatives before running the stories, and refused to retract them after being told the claims were false.
An after-hour call to X17's Beverly Hills office was not immediately returned.
Last week, the Web site posted a story that said the model Alexandra Paressant told X17 that she had a two-month affair with Parker. The story said Paressant told X17 she attended Parker's wedding last summer, where the French soccer star Thierry Henry introduced her to the basketball star.
"No one from X17 attempted to contact Mr. Henry, who ... would have told them in no uncertain terms that this woman was not at the wedding," the lawsuit said, adding that Parker has never met anyone named Alexandra Paressant.
"If this woman exists, he has no way of knowing whether she is one of the many fans who have, from time to time, managed to obtain his cell phone number and called or left messages or who may have engaged him in conversation."
Parker is seeking damages for defamation and invasion of privacy. The lawsuit seeks a court injunction ordering X17 to stop publishing the stories.
Parker and Longoria defended their marriage last week.
"I love my wife," Parker said in a statement from Longoria's spokeswoman, Liza Anderson. "She's the best thing in my life, and I have never been happier."
"Tony has been nothing short of the perfect husband," said Longoria, who stars on ABC's "Desperate Housewives."
take that, es!
I know this is just going to get moved, and I understand this was a symbolic lawsuit to show they disagree vehemently.
But famous people can't sue for defamation like this. They are in the public spotlight and stuff like this is, sadly, fair game legally.
Unless it damages their PROFESSIONAL reputation(s), you can talk about their mother and whatnot all you want in pubic.
That's not true at all. If Parker can establish the elements, he can win a case. The additional burden a celebrity has is that they must prove the defamatory statement was made with actual malice; i.e. with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether or not it was false. Their pleadings show that they asserted actual malice, and if they can prove it, along with the other required elements, they can win.
Several celebrities have sued these gossip rags and won. Typically, the gossip rags will couch things so as to protect themselves from liability, but sometimes they slip up. I would expect that a mere gossip website would be less likely than a tabloid to have competent legal advice regarding where to draw the line.
Last edited by SuperDave; 12-21-2007 at 11:14 AM.
How many ing times does this need to be posted?
Superdave,
I would think actual malice is very hard to prove. Even if they were negligent in not using more than one source, that would not prove they were trying to use false information to damage tony's reputation or marriage. All they have to say is they had one source and they might be negligent but not malicious.
Further, the additional media coverage that the newspaper/writer gets often makes up for the costs of litigation; in the end suing the website will make it more popular and actually encourage going right up to the line.
Thanks for the correction about malice. I'm in law school and didn't cover defamation formally yet, just read part of a case or two.
It's in The Club.
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