2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
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---
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created_at: '2016-05-30T20:21:33.000Z'
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title: How the Supermarket Tabloids Stay Out of Court (1991)
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url: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/04/news/how-the-supermarket-tabloids-stay-out-of-court.html?smid=tw-share
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author: exolymph
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points: 49
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story_text:
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 53
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1464639693
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_exolymph
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- story_11802952
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objectID: '11802952'
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---
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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Every few months a Hollywood celebrity walks into Vincent Chieffo's law
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office in Los Angeles, angrily waving a copy of one of the supermarket
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tabloids, those weekly newspapers that offer readers a feast of gossip,
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scandal and believe-it-or-not phenomena.
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Asserting that an article is not true, the celebrity asks about suing
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the newspaper. Mr. Chieffo, a veteran entertainment lawyer, usually
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responds with what he calls "the facts of life" in the never-ending
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battle between these publications and the famous people whose lives
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provide the fodder for each week's blaring headlines.
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He tells the celebrity that the tabloid will aggressively fight back, so
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the lawsuit will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and will probably
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drag on for years. He emphasizes that in preparing their defense, the
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tabloid's lawyers might be given legal permission to scrutinize the
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celebrity's personal life.
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And he points out that by law, the standard of libel for public figures
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is high, making the case difficult to win. The celebrity will have to
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prove "actual malice" -- that the tabloid was not just negligent, but
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rather knew that the item was false and nonetheless displayed a reckless
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disregard for the truth. Warnings Often Deter Lawsuits
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Such lawyers' warnings, which often deter lawsuits, reflect how
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successful these newspapers have been at avoiding legal judgments.
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Even though newspapers like The National Enquirer, The Star and The
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Globe regularly leave famous people fuming about what those people
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consider to be lies, half-truths and innuendo, the tabloids face few
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lawsuits and almost never lose trials.
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The Enquirer, which publishes about 3,600 stories a year and boasts a
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circulation of about four million copies a week, is currently involved
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in only two libel suits, said Paul Wolff, a lawyer for the newspaper
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with the Washington law firm Williams & Connolly.
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Paul M. Levy, a lawyer at Deutsch, Levy & Engel in Chicago who
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represents The Globe, said that in about 25 years of publication, there
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had never been a legal judgment against his client in a celebrity
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lawsuit. 'The Scorpion Defense'
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Lawyers who have fought the publications say that by spending lavishly
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to employ powerful law firms, these newspapers have built intimidating
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reputations.
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"It's the scorpion defense: You don't attack a scorpion because you're
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going to get stung," said Mr. Chieffo, a partner at Gipson, Hoffman &
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Pancione who has sued tabloids about a dozen times. "It's very tough.
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It's very difficult to prevail."
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These lawyers say that the case many celebrities cite as their
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inspiration for suing the tabloids, the actress Carol Burnett's lawsuit
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against The Enquirer, was an anomaly.
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Ms. Burnett contended that The Enquirer made up a 1976 article that
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depicted her as intoxicated during an encounter at a restaurant with
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former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. The Enquirer wrote:
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"At a Washington restaurant, a boisterous Carol Burnett had a loud
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argument with another diner, Henry Kissinger. She traipsed around the
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place offering everyone a bite of her dessert. But Carol really raised
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eyebrows when she accidentally knocked a glass of wine over one diner
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and started giggling instead of apologizing."
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A jury awarded Ms. Burnett $1.6 million, but that judgment was later
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reduced to $200,000 after a number of appeals, and Ms. Burnett then
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agreed to an unspecified out-of-court settlement with The Enquirer.
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Damages Often Reduced
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John D. Forbess, a Los Angeles lawyer who has sued The Enquirer and The
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Star on behalf of clients like Cher, noted that the Burnett case
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symbolized another difficulty in suing such publications -- or, for that
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matter, any publication: Even if a plaintiff wins high damages, appeals
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courts tend to reduce the award.
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For those who decide to pursue a case, the going can be rough.
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The tabloids' lawyers, employing a defense strategy that is often used
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by daily newspapers and other publications in libel suits, usually file
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a barrage of motions in court that tend to delay cases and put pressure
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on the plaintiffs to settle.
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As a result, very few lawsuits ever come to trial. Some end with a
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settlement that includes a printed retraction or an agreement that the
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newspaper will not write anything about the celebrity for a specified
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period.
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Mr. Chieffo and Mr. Forbess said that nearly all of their lawsuits
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against the tabloids had ended in out-of-court settlements. Suit From
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Elizabeth Taylor
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Elizabeth Taylor sued The Enquirer about three months ago for libel and
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defamation of character. She cited two articles, one that said she had
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brought liquor into her hospital room when she was ill and another that
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said she was suffering from lupus.
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Neil Papiano, Ms. Taylor's lawyer, said The Enquirer had filed motions
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asserting that the complaint is insufficient, seeking to move the case
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from state to Federal court and requesting Ms. Taylor's medical records
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from the past 30 years.
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"I think they'll do everything they can to drag this on for a while,"
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said Mr. Papiano, a partner at Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano & Hatch in Los
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Angeles. "Their object is to drag their feet. Our's is to move forward."
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But Mr. Wolff, who heads the litigation team for The Enquirer, said he
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does not try to delay cases.
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Mr. Wolff said no one at Williams & Connolly had ever been disciplined
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by a judge for filing unnecessary motions or seeking unnecessary
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depositions in an Enquirer case. 'A Thorough Defense'
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"Our strategy is to do the best possible job for our client," he said.
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"And that, of course, means litigating with all the resources necessary.
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We do what we need to do to win the case. We do not engage in overkill.
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We engage in a thorough defense of The Enquirer."
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Mr. Wolff said that The Enquirer's success in avoiding legal judgments
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stems from its careful reporting and editing and its reliance on legal
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advice throughout the editorial process.
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In addition to the three lawyers from Williams & Connolly who represent
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The Enquirer in litigation matters, a group of four lawyers from the
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firm reads nearly every article before publication. Other supermarket
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tabloids have similar policies.
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Mr. Levy said lawyers who criticize the tabloids' legal tactics are
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making excuses for their own failures.
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"Why haven't celebrities been more successful?" he asked. "We are
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talking about celebrities with great resources. The reason is that we
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must be doing something properly within the law, or else there would be
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more successes here, and there are none."
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Photo: "You're going to get stung," Vincent Chieffo, a lawyer, said
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about suing supermarket tabloids. (Bart Bartholomew for The New York
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Times)
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