About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

20 Geo. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 1009 (2022)
Ethical Complexities in Defamation and False Light Claims

handle is hein.journals/geojlap20 and id is 1029 raw text is: CIVIL LIABILITY, CIVILITY, AND NORMS Ethical Complexities in Defamation and False Light Claims RODNEY SMOLLA* ABSTRACT Richard Simmons was for decades a well-known American celebrity, health and fitness guru, motivational life-coach, comedian, and actor. In early 2014, Simmons left the public spotlight. In 2016, the National Enquirer claimed in a front-page article that Simmons had transitioned from male to female. Simmons sued the Enquirer for defamation and false light invasion of privacy. The author of this article represented him. The case vividly illustrated a long-standing co- nundrum over what should or should not be deemed defamatory. The realistic position, which can be traced to opinions by the jurists Oliver Wendell Holmes and Learned Hand, asks only whether, viewed realistically, the falsehoods would damage the reputation of the plaintiff within a substantial segment of the community, without regard to whether the views of that segment of the commu- nity were right-thinking. In contrast, the idealistic position requires that the segment of the community in which the reputation of the plaintiff would be diminished be right-thinking, in the sense that their views reflect the higher or more progressive moral sensibilities of society. Simmons lost, because the court adopted the idealistic view, reasoning that right-thinking persons would not think less of Simmons for having transitioned. The article explores the ten- sions between these opposing positions and argues in addition that whether or not defamation is an appropriate legal response to the falsehoods Simmons alleged, the tort of false light, properly understood, should still be available, because it was designed to provide a remedy for falsehoods that, while arguably not defamatory, would nonetheless be highly offensive to a reasonable person. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION. ............................................ 1010 II. THE DEFAMATION CONUNDRUM ........................... 1012 A. Posing the Conundrum ............................. . 1012 * President, Vermont Law and Graduate School. © 2022, Rodney Smolla. 1009

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most