Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Lindsay and Dina Lohan Sue Fox News for Defamation




Just one day after Lindsay Lohan joked about her less-then-stellar driving record in a Super Bowl 
commercial, the actress didn't feel like making light of her party girl reputation.
She and her mother, Dina Lohan, filed a lawsuit against Fox News; Sean Hannity, the host of its show Hannity; and one of Hannity's guests, pundit Michelle Fields, for the way Fields talked about them on the show. On Feb. 4, 2014, in a regular segment called "The Great American Panel" focused on celebrities such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died from drug use, Fields commented that "Lindsay Lohan's mom is doing cocaine with her."

Both Lindsay and Dina have been arrested for being behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and the two have been photgraphed out on the town together.
But Fields's speculative statement did not sit well with LiLo's legal team. In a letter dated Feb. 18, 2014, addressed to Roger Ailes, the chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel, attorney Mark Jay Heller demanded an apology and retraction and that video of the comment be removed from the Fox News website. It called out Fields for her "blatantly false, malicious, defamatory and reckless statement," and the show for implying that Lindsay would soon meet the same fate as Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, and others.
While Fox admitted on-air that it didn't verify the truth of the statement from Fields, the segment wasn't removed. The Lohans filed suit in the New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday. They're seeking to "recover damages for slander, false and irresponsible defamatory statements made against them during a national broadcast program on FOX News. The plaintiffs also seek damages from the defendants for the intentional infliction of emotional distress as well." In addition, Lindsay and Dina want punitive damages from the trashtalkers and, of course, for them to stop distributing the segment.
The court documents allege that the defamatory comment "was a direct smear on the character/reputation of the plaintiffs" and "hurt their reputations and cost them loss of acting and entertainment contracts and opportunities."
The lesson here: Don't mess with the Lohans.

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