Parker Pushes Back
I predicted this one yesterday! Tony Parker filed a whopping $20 million defamation lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court today against X17 for running a story alleging that he had an affair with French model Alexandra Paressant.
Sadly for celebs, defamation cases can be hard to prove. Unlike regular folks who have to prove only that a reasonable person would not have published the false statement, Parker has to prove both that the allegations were false and that X17 published the statement with either knowledge of the falsity or in reckless disregard of the truth.
Parker has said that he has never even met Paressant, much less had an affair with her. It’s challenging to prove that an affair — an event that typically lacks witnesses — never happened when the other person says it did.
It’s even more difficult to prove that the website knew it was false or was reckless in publishing the allegations, especially if the website has a source it believes is reliable. Here, X17 told E! Online that its journalists “conducted extensive research for the reporting of this story.” This is the ongoing dilemma for celebrities and public figures when it comes to defamation cases.
Like most celebrity defamation cases, I predict this one will settle out of court, but ya never know…
[...] Why hasn’t Clemens has filed a defamation lawsuit (like Tony Parker)? [...]
[...] lawsuit against X17 in December. This apology likely is part of a settlement agreement (click here to see Popsquire’s prediction from December). Expect a dismissal of the case [...]