A person in the U.K. described only as a “well-known individual,” has sued to stop the publication of a story accusing him of “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activity with girls and young women.”
Whoever this person is, he has denied the allegations (I’m assuming it’s a guy). His lawyer has petitioned the court, claiming that if this story is published, his client will commit suicide at the earliest opportunity.
The two news outlets, the Guardian and ITN, claim the story is solid with 30 sources backed by four years of reporting.
“A threat to life, if there is a genuine risk of suicide,” a defamation lawyer told the far-left Variety, is one of the ways to win this type of injunction. “But that has to be confirmed by a competent psychiatrist and whatever other medical support that the court will need.”
“The court don’t grant that very lightly — they’ll be very thorough in their examination of whether there is a genuine risk of suicide, or whether that is being used just an excuse, basically,” he added.
The lawyer for the news outlets counters that the public interest will be served by publishing “numerous allegations” that have taken place “over the course of many years.”
“Many of the women who have reported these allegations have been traumatized by the claimant’s alleged conduct and have suffered mental health crises and mental illness as a result,” he added.
This unknown celebrity has already lost his first case, but he will remain anonymous (i.e., the story won’t run) while his lawyer appeals.
“The claimant’s claim for an injunction was dismissed,” the judge said. “The court did not determine whether the allegations, or any of them, were true, and the dismissal of the claim does not amount to approval of any publication the defendants may decide to make.”
I’m of two schools of thought with this… Obviously, we all want to live in a culture where the media are free to publish whatever they want to publish. Defamation suits are a reasonable remedy for false reporting.
At the same time, I have always found the media’s reporting of crimes not litigated in a court of law obscene. Whoever this guy is, he reasonably fears being found guilty in the kangaroo court of public opinion, complete with all the career fallout, family tensions, and reputational damage that come with it. And this will happen without him being allowed to confront his accusers or present his own case. He might not end up in prison, but he will be punished in countless different ways without any due process.
And what if he is innocent?
Time and again, we’ve seen innocent people destroyed by false allegations. If someone commits a crime against you, report it to the police, not the media.
In a perfect world, there would be no moral dilemmas like this.
