Category: libel

Florida Libel Bill May Challenge Long-Standing Supreme Court Decision

Zak Young says his business and livelihood were destroyed—and innocent lives endangered—when CNN allegedly trashed him in TV and print stories. As an elite security operator who had the skills and contacts to extract people from Afghanistan as it fell to the Taliban, Young saw himself savaged as a black marketer seeking to fleece helpless…


Appeal Court Doubles Defamation Award to BC Businessman

British Columbia businessman Stephen Pineau has been awarded a historic six-figure damages award after being defamed in online articles. On Dec. 16, the B.C. Court of Appeal doubled the original damages first awarded to Pineau from $60,000 to $120,000. Pineau sued the magazine Business in Vancouver for two articles, and KMI Publishing for one article—which…


Supreme Court Won’t Hear Journalist Chuck Johnson’s Libel Appeal Against Huffington Post

The Supreme Court declined on Dec. 5 to hear the appeal of the controversial and formerly high-profile journalist Chuck Johnson, who sued the Huffington Post website over characterizing him as a white nationalist in a 2019 article. Some online businesses had watched the case carefully, fearing that if the Supreme Court had agreed to take…


The Story Behind the Colonial Trial that Laid the Foundation for Establishing America’s Freedom of Press

When James Madison of Virginia, later the fourth president of the United States, wrote that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”—God-given rights ultimately enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution—there is little doubt that one thing on his mind was the trial of John Peter…


Carole Cadwalladr Wins Libel Case Against Arron Banks Using ‘Public Interest’ Defence

British investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr has won a libel battle with Brexit supporter and businessman Arron Banks, despite being unable to prove what she claimed about him was true. Banks, one of the biggest donors towards the Leave.EU campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum, sued freelance journalist Cadwalladr, who writes for The Observer, after she…


Depp Retakes Witness Stand, Calls Heard’s Allegations Insane

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—Johnny Depp called his ex-wife’s accusations of sexual and physical abuse “insane” Wednesday as he returned to the witness stand in his libel suit against Amber Heard. “Ridiculous, humiliating, ludicrous, painful, savage, unbelievably brutal, cruel, and all false,” Depp said when asked about his reaction to hearing Heard’s allegations when she testified earlier…


Ex-girlfriend, Agent, Business Manager, Friend Testify Against Johnny Depp in Defamation Trial

To hear actress Ellen Barkin tell it, Johnny Depp was a controlling, jealous, and angry man even back in the 1990s, when the two dated. “Where are you going?” Barkin said Depp would ask her. “Who are you going with? What did you do last night?” Barkin recalled her relationship with Depp during a previously…


Amber Heard Resumes Testimony in Johnny Depp Libel Trial

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—Jurors in Johnny Depp’s libel trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, saw photos Monday of her with red marks and swelling on her face after their final fight before their divorce, and heard testimony about her expertise in covering up bruises with makeup. Heard concluded her direct testimony in a Virginia courtroom with…


Amber Heard Concludes Testimony in Johnny Depp Libel Trial

FALLS CHURCH, Va.—Jurors in Johnny Depp’s libel trial against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, saw photos Monday of her with red marks and swelling on her face after their final fight before their divorce, and heard testimony about her expertise in covering up bruises with makeup. Heard concluded her direct testimony in a Virginia courtroom with…


UK MPs Told of ‘Bullyboy Tactics’ Used in SLAPP Lawsuits

The House of Commons Justice Committee has been told London has become the world leader in law firms perpetrating strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs. Michelle Stanistreet, the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, described SLAPPs as “bullyboy tactics” used to intimidate journalists or “tie them up in knots” in order to…