11 November 2024
DEFAMATION (US) – Stephen Belafonte’s defamation claim against Mel B to continue
Spice Girl Mel B has failed in her attempt to get a US court to throw out a defamation claim brought against her by her ex-husband, Stephen Belafonte.
Belafonte claims that Mel B has falsely accused him of ‘crimes and horrific offenses, including physical beatings, rape, financial abuse, emotional abuse, sex trafficking, and illegal gun possession’.
The Spice Girl’s lawyers had tried to persuade a Florida judge that the claim should not be permitted to continue because she had been exercising her constitutional rights. That request has now been denied.
Defamation claims are sometimes considered more difficult to pursue in the USA compared to the UK due to the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects freedom of speech.
zoom-in will continue to follow the case as it progresses.
VIEWER TRUST (AUS) – ABC apologises after fake gunshot sounds were added to a news report
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has announced that it will review its editorial policies, after it was revealed that audio of five gunshots was added to footage of a soldier in a news report.
The decision follows an independent review that was commissioned to investigate concerns that gunshot sounds had been added to helmet footage taken from Australian commandos deployed in Afghanistan in 2012.
The review found ‘no evidence that anyone at the ABC […] deliberately doctored, falsified, manipulated or distorted information, material or evidence in order to mislead audiences’.
Instead, the report concluded that the sounds had been ‘inadvertently but inaccurately’ added to footage as a result of an ‘editing error’ rather than a deliberate attempt to mislead.
Following the review, ABC’s director of news, said the broadcaster ‘sincerely regrets and apologises for the editing errors” in the footage.
Broadcasters in the UK are regulated by Ofcom, which can impose sanctions, including large fines, for the failure to ensure that content is accurate and truthful, or where viewer trust has been breached.
Under Rule 2.2 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, ‘Factual programmes or items or portrayals of factual matters must not materially mislead the audience’.
Adding audio to unrelated footage is an example of an editing practice that can, potentially, result in a programme being materially misleading in certain circumstances.
PRIVACY (US) – Tech exec brings $25m claim over arrest report
Tech executive Maury Blackman has brought a claim for $25million against a journalist called Jack Poulson who reported that Blackman had been arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in 2021.
Blackman was never charged.
Although the filing acknowledges that he was subjected to a ‘felony domestic violence arrest’, he argues that his reputation has been damaged by the report and he has been unable to find work as a result.
Under English law, individuals who are under official investigation by the State will, as a starting point, have a reasonable expectation of privacy in that fact and in information relating to the investigation.
This commonly arises when individuals have been arrested and reflects the common police practice of not naming suspects until the point of charge.
However, it is not an absolute rule: it can be displaced, for example if the public interest in naming the individual who has been arrested outweighs the individual’s privacy rights.
It will be interesting to see how the US courts view Blackman’s claim. zoom-in will continue to follow the case as it progresses over the coming months.
DEFAMATION (US) – No horsing around: Megan Thee Stallion sues blogger
Megan Pete, the Grammy-winning rapper better known as Megan Thee Stallion, has brought a claim for defamation and harassment against Milagro Cooper, a YouTuber known as Milagro Gramz.
Pete has accused Cooper of cyberstalking, emotional distress and promoting an ‘altered sexual depiction’ due to allegedly sharing a deepfake pornographic image of the musician on social media.
She has alleged that Cooper is a ‘paid surrogate’ for Tory Lanez, a musician who is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted of shooting Pete, claiming that Cooper has engaged in a ‘years-long campaign of harassment’ against Pete on Lanez’ behalf.
Pete is seeking ‘monetary damages’, as well as costs. She also wants a jury trial and has sought an injunction to prevent Cooper from publishing private visual representations of the rapper in the future.
In a response Cooper’s legal team alleged that the claim made ‘a lot of false claims against’ the blogger’s ‘professional conduct in an attempt to stop her from reporting on’ the Tory Lanez case.
The statement goes on to allege that Pete’s lawsuit is an attempt to ‘silence’ podcasters and social media influencers ‘from their right to free speech’.
Abbas Media Law is a boutique law firm, specialising in advice to independent production companies and broadcasters. We are true experts in our field: all lawyers and advisors have in the past worked either in-house for broadcasters and/or production companies.
Accordingly, we fully understand production and the needs of our clients. We offer expert advice and representation on all programme content related matters (legal and regulatory), all aspects of business affairs, as well as complaints-handling and litigation. Visit www.abbasmedialaw.com or contact us directly at info@abbasmedialaw.com.