Since December, more and more celebrities have found themselves entangled in defamation-related court drama. The highest-profile legal battle, of course, involves It Ends With Us director-actor Justin Baldoni’s defamation suit against co-star Blake Lively over her claims that he mistreated her on set. In addition to Lively’s allegations spawning numerous other lawsuits, Baldoni is suing the New York Times over its story on Lively’s accusations. (She’s suing Baldoni related to this alleged mistreatment. Various PR reps are also claiming they were defamed.) As these cases continue to unfold, other celebrities have decided to defend their reputations in court. On January 15, for example, Drake filed a defamation suit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss track, “Not Like Us,” claiming the entertainment giant wrongfully boosted statements that cast the Canadian rapper as a pedophile.
Meanwhile, Sean “Diddy” Combs, who will soon face a sex-trafficking trial, filed a defamation suit against NBCUniversal, claiming that Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy falsely claimed he was involved in his ex Kim Porter’s death. Chris Brown, on January 21, sued Warner Bros. Discovery and production company Ample LLC over the documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence — claiming it falsely cast him as a serial sex abuser. On March 15, Jay-Z sued a rape accuser for alleged defamation several weeks after she withdrew her legal claim against him, which was part of a lawsuit against Diddy. The rapper’s suit also accuses this woman’s attorney’s lawyers of misconduct. So, why are so many stars pursuing defamation cases right now? And will they pan out? Vulture spoke with several legal experts about the trend — and how Johnny Depp’s 2022 win against Amber Heard may have an impact.
What exactly does a defamation case entail? Is this different from libel?
Defamation is a legal remedy “that allows people the right to protect their reputations from publication of false and damaging information about them through a civil or tort lawsuit,” Roy S. Gutterman, director of the Newhouse School’s Tully Center for Free Speech at Syracuse University, told Vulture. So, if someone says something that’s total b.s. — and ruins your reputation — you can file a defamation suit. Libel is “the written or permanent form of defamation,” per Gutterman. This includes material published by “traditional media, broadcast, or posted in modern or digital media.” Slander, meanwhile, “is the spoken or oral form of defamation, which rarely involves the media or high-profile public figures.”
How do you prove defamation?
In a libel case, the person suing must prove that “the defendant published a false statement of fact about them that causes harm to their reputation,” Gutterman said, adding, “Harm means damage, and that almost always means money.” The majority of defamatory statements generally “gravitate toward false statements calling someone a criminal or alleging some other sort of misconduct, as we see from the spate of high-profile celebrity defamation cases these days.” When it comes to celebrities, there’s a “significant hurdle,” he said. “Public officials and public figures, like celebrities, not only have to prove that they were harmed by the false published statement, but that it was published either with known falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. This is a higher burden because public figures tend to have resources to counter false information prior to litigating.”
Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers and a former federal prosecutor, voiced similar sentiments. “When you’re dealing with celebrities or public figures in the United States, they have to show malice,” she said. “Malice means that the victim knew the statement was false, actual knowledge of the falsity of the statement, or they acted in reckless disregard for the truth.”
Can you defame someone who’s already had major reputational blows, like Brown and Diddy?
Yes! A person can have a lot of baggage — such as domestic-violence claims (in Brown’s case) or a bunch of sex crimes allegations (as with Diddy) — but they are still protected from false claims that could damage their public persona even more. “They can have a tarnished reputation, but if it’s a different remark or statement made, that in and of itself can be actionable,” Tre Lovell, a veteran attorney in Los Angeles, explained. Lovell said that “it doesn’t really matter what their character is.” When it comes to an allegedly defamatory statement, “in terms of whether or not the statement is true, it’s its own judge.” Juda Engelmayer, the public-relations and crisis-response vet whose client roster includes Harvey Weinstein, said that even when a person is under a lot of scrutiny, they might have to fight claims for strategy. Diddy “doesn’t have a choice to walk away,” Engelmayer said. “He’s had to find any advantage he can to influence maybe a judge and maybe a jury and the public on this.” The sooner Diddy does this, “he can start planning his opposition and his defense in the public as well as in court. Filing the suit helps get some of that out there.”
Do all of these defamation cases reflect some sort of trend?
It certainly looks like it. “I haven’t seen it rise to this level of hitting back,” Lovell said. “I think the reason celebrities are hitting back so hard is that when they’re attacked, their brand is attacked, their name is attacked in the press,” he said. “They can either respond in the press and say, ‘It’s not true,’ but what gives them a bit more credibility is if they take legal action.” Engelmayer said that allegations have “forced” high-profile figures to look for ways to get out of these claims, marking a shift from the past. High-profile figures might have been more reluctant to file defamation claims some years ago, but stars started to see their colleagues file defamation lawsuits and win.
Several experts told Vulture that these suits can be part of a savvy media strategy. A person can deny allegations, but it doesn’t get as much press attention as an official legal filing. Filing paperwork with a court “all of a sudden gives grounds for legal coverage,” Engelmayer said. “I think that more celebrities are realizing that at the very least, even if you don’t win in court, the very fact that you start the legal process helps get more attention, which can help lead to a settlement,” he said.
Is the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard case relevant to this trend?
Isn’t it always? Rahmani said that there are similarities between the center of Baldoni and Lively’s dispute and Depp’s defamation case against Heard. After Heard came forward with domestic-violence allegations against Depp, the actor’s reputation and career suffered serious blows. Depp needed to redeem his public image, and defending himself in the court of law was the way to do it. Baldoni’s career has also taken a hit. “Baldoni and Blake Lively may go to trial because it’s like the Johnny Depp case where he wants to clear his name,” Rahmani said. “That case has a very high likelihood of going to trial because of the nature of the allegations. [Baldoni] was canceled.”
What are these celebrities saying about their cases? What about the people they’re suing?
Levi McCathern, who represents Brown in this suit, told Vulture that the show was a clear case of defamation, alleging that producers knew “the statements that were made about Chris were false.” McCathern didn’t think that Brown’s past PR problems undermined a present-day defamation claim. “Chris made a mistake while he was still a teenager that has obviously gotten a lot of publicity. I think he’s done his best to fully own that mistake and try to atone for it.” He also said, “I’m glad we live in a country that has second chances, but the simple fact that Chris made a mistake at one point in his life does not give people the carte-blanche right to smear his name with allegations that they know are false.” A rep for Warner Bros. said it stood behind the documentary and “will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit.” As for Diddy’s suit, his team claims that NBCUniversal knew that it was promoting “outrageous lies” against him, among them “false accusations of serial murder, sexual assault of minors, and sex trafficking when there is no credible evidence to support any of these heinous allegations.” His civil attorney, Erica Wolff, said that the show’s backers “made a conscious decision to line their own pockets at the expense of truth, decency, and basic standards of professional journalism.” NBCUniversal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Drake’s camp has previously said that it’s suing Universal Music Group for knowingly peddling “false and defamatory allegations against him,” as well as elevating “a dangerous and inflammatory message that was designed to assassinate Drake’s character, and led to actual violence at Drake’s doorstep.” Universal said “we have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual” and that it will vigorously fight these claims. The music giant, which said it has invested massively in Drake’s career, said they would fight the case “to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.” Tony Buzbee did not immediately respond to Vulture’s request for comment on Jay-Z’s suit. Baldoni, Lively, and others implicated in the many suits have insisted they didn’t engage in wrongdoing.