Libel

It was billed as a "shocking tell-all" and a "world exclusive," but the National Enquirer's March 26 cover story landed with a thud. TMZ, Page Six and other major players in celebrity gossip ignored the article in which a masseur claimed John Travolta offered money for sex. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article used the term "masseuse"; it should have said "masseur. " Five weeks after the issue left the checkout aisle, a DUI attorney from Pasadena put the anonymous masseur's tawdry tale in a lawsuit and it became an overnight pop culture sensation, topping Google News, trending on Twitter and meriting a segment on "Good Morning America.

An environmental crusader known as "Mr. Malibu" has apologized to Pepperdine University and retracted accusations that the school is to blame for effluent flowing down Marie Canyon Creek and into the Pacific Ocean. In exchange, the university has agreed to drop a lawsuit against activist Cary ONeal that alleged libel and "invasion of privacy by placing person in a false light in public eye. " In two videos he posted online, ONeal claimed that a foamy substance pooling on a Malibu beach was sewage released by Pepperdine.

The government warned Britain's tabloid newspapers Friday to "clean up their act" or face laws to curb sensationalist journalism which has led to huge libel awards. Home Office minister Timothy Renton, responding to public anger over the way tabloid newspapers fight their circulation wars, announced the setting up of an independent review of press behavior. He told Parliament that the investigation will be completed within a year and will be followed by legislation if press behavior did not improve.

Will somebody come clean about those soap-like bubbles in Malibu's tiny Marie Canyon Creek? A legal battle between an environmental crusader and Pepperdine University is raising questions about a frothy cascade of storm water that periodically spills over a beach lined with celebrity homes and into the Pacific Ocean. Videographer Cary ONeal, who blogs as "Mr. Malibu," insists that the runoff is tainted by a sewage treatment plant that serves the university and a housing tract next door, and that the school should be held to task for it. Pepperdine officials dispute that and have gone to court to prevent ONeal's accusation and home-made videos of the sudsy flow from going viral.

An ongoing dispute between the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles and followers of fugitive preacher and clothing designer Tony Alamo moved to the courts this week, as the Alamo faithful filed suit against the federation, which has launched a successful campaign to stop the sale of Alamo jackets.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Friday dismissed a multimillion-dollar libel and slander suit filed more than nine years ago against two ministers of the Pasadena-based Worldwide Church of God and the estate of the church's late founder, Herbert W. Armstrong. Superior Court Judge Richard A. Lavine granted a summary motion on behalf of Raymond McNair and Roderick Meredith, who had been named in an action filed in July, 1979, by McNair's former wife, Leona.

The buses that ferry tourists past the homes of celebrities used to slow to a roll outside a Beverly Hills mansion with 11 Ferraris parked just inside the gates. Georges Marciano lives here, the gawking customers were told. You know, Guess Jeans. A knowledgeable guide might have gone on to describe Marciano as a classic American success story -- a poor immigrant who amassed a fortune through hard work and business savvy. The guide might have noted Marciano's two other palatial residences on Sunset Boulevard, his Boeing 737, the art collection boasting works by Marc Chagall and Ed Ruscha, the cellar of priceless wines, the homes in Utah and France, and his self-financed if little-noticed campaign for governor.

Why is it that libel of an individual is subject to legal penalties whereas libel of minorities is legally protected as freedom of speech? ROBERT GUM Long Beach

Rock Hudson's former lover filed a $23-million libel suit Wednesday, claiming that he is falsely portrayed in a new book on the late actor as "a criminal, a thief, an unclean person, a blackmailer, a psychotic, an extortionist, a forger, a perjurer, a liar, a whore, an arsonist and a squatter." The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Marc Christian, who last year won $5.

Sarah Palin 's remarks Wednesday in which she accused critics who would tie her political tone to the Arizona shootings of committing a "blood libel" against her have prompted an instant and pronounced backlash from some in America's Jewish community. The term dates to the Middle Ages and refers to a prejudice that Jewish people used Christian blood in religious rituals. "Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a 'blood libel' against her and others," said David Harris, president of the National Democratic Jewish Council, in a statement.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs pointedly avoided attempts Thursday to engage the Obama administration in a debate on civil political discourse with potential presidential rival Sarah Palin. Speaking at his morning briefing, Gibbs ducked several questions about the president's response to Palin's comments in the wake of the Arizona shooting spree that left six dead and 19 wounded. Palin on Wednesday branded attempts by some to use the attack as a way of criticizing conservatives as "blood libel.

In saying her critics manufactured "a blood libel," Sarah Palin deployed a phrase linked to the false accusations made for centuries against Jews, often to malign them as child killers who coveted the blood of Christian children. Blood libel has been a central fable of anti-Semitism in which Jews have been accused of using the blood of gentile children for medicinal purposes or to mix in with matzo, the unleavened bread traditionally eaten at Passover. The spreading of the blood libel dates to the Middle Ages ?

Sarah Palin put on full display Wednesday all that makes her a formidable yet divisive contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination ? inspiring to some, maddening to others, a powerhouse who commands the sort of media attention her putative GOP rivals can only envy. In an eight-minute video posted online, the former Alaska governor fiercely dismissed any notion that her firearms-infused political messages in 2010 ("Don't retreat, instead ? reload!") contributed to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.

Sarah Palin 's remarks Wednesday in which she accused critics who would tie her political tone to the Arizona shootings of committing a "blood libel" against her have prompted an instant and pronounced backlash from some in America's Jewish community. The term dates to the Middle Ages and refers to a prejudice that Jewish people used Christian blood in religious rituals. "Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a 'blood libel' against her and others," said David Harris, president of the National Democratic Jewish Council, in a statement.

Former football coach Mike Leach sued ESPN Inc. and a public relations firm Wednesday, accusing them of libel and slander after he was fired by Texas Tech amid accusations that he mistreated a player suffering from a concussion. The suit filed in Texas district court claims the network's coverage of Leach's firing last year was "willful and negligent defamation" and that it failed to "retract false and damaging statements" it made from "misinformation" provided to ESPN by Craig James , the father of the Texas Tech player.

Pretending to have received a military honor is despicable, but not every despicable lie should be a crime. That's the sensible conclusion reached last week by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in striking down a law used against a California public official. In 2007, Xavier Alvarez, a new board member of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Claremont, introduced himself this way: "I'm a retired Marine of 25 years. I retired in the year 2001. Back in 1987, I was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor.

Locked in a visitation dispute with his former girlfriend over their young daughter, J.P. Weichel wanted to vent, court records say. Weichel, 40, allegedly posted comments about the woman on the Craigslist "rants and raves" forum, accusing her of child abuse and welfare fraud and making crude comments about her sex life. The woman said the postings were defamatory.

Clint Eastwood settled a libel lawsuit against the writer and publisher of an unauthorized biography he said portrayed him as a wife abuser. As part of the settlement, announced Thursday, the book's author and publisher agreed to remove a reference to Eastwood beating his former wife, Maggie Eastwood, as well as other statements the actor-director said were false and defamatory. Eastwood filed the $10-million libel action in 2002 against St.

It's called "libel tourism" — the practice of bringing a defamation lawsuit against an author or publisher in a country with less robust protections of free speech than those afforded Americans by the 1st Amendment and Supreme Court decisions. Many Americans may be surprised to learn that a leading destination for libel tourists is the United Kingdom. The United States can't prevent Britain or other countries from making it easier to win libel suits that might not succeed in this country, where even publications that include errors have received 1st Amendment protection.

In his Christmas Day 2009 column for the Korea Times, Michael Breen decided to lampoon such national newsmakers as President Lee Myung-bak and the pop idol Rain. Headlined "What People Got for Christmas," the English-language column also poked fun at global technology giant Samsung Electronics, referring to past bribery scandals as well as perceptions that its leaders are arrogant. The piece was meant as a satirical spoof, the columnist says, but Samsung wasn't laughing. Breen's column ran as local media reported that President Lee would soon pardon Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee on a 2008 conviction for tax evasion.