Courtney Love Twitter Rampage Leads to 'Groundbreaking' Lawsuit

By John Mitchell Posted Jan 5th 2011 01:00PM

Courtney Love has again found herself at the center of a legal frenzy. But this time the case against her is being called "groundbreaking" and could set a legal precedent for whether celebrities (or anyone, really) can be found libel for intentionally putting untrue or defamatory statements on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

Love is being sued by fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir, who is claiming that a stream of insulting and false tweets from the Hole rocker in mid-March of 2009 destroyed her reputation and cost her millions in lost revenue. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Love's tweets allegedly branded Simorangkir "a drug-pushing prostitute with a history of assault and battery who lost custody of her own child and capitalized on Love's fame before stealing from her."

The lawsuit, which goes before a judge and jury in Los Angeles on Jan. 18, represents the first defamation suit brought against a celebrity because of comments made on Twitter. "There has never been anything like this case before," Simorangkir's attorney Bryan Freedman told THR.

The case is of particular importance because it will establish whether a public figure's comments on Twitter should be held to the same libel laws that apply to the news media or if tweets should be given, as defamation expert Alonzo Wickers explained to THR, "the same latitude as an op-ed piece or a letter to the editor."

"The way Twitter is evolving, it seems to be more of a means to express opinion," said Wickers, who has handled defamation complaints against Comedy Central and TMZ. "I'll be interested to see if the court gives people posting on Twitter more latitude than other media."

In an effort to determine the level of credibility given to statements made on a "casual forum" like Twitter, Simorangkir plans to call a social media expert to the stand. She will also reportedly introduce into evidence e-mails and recorded phone calls made by Love following her Twitter rant, which, according to Simorangkir, prove she felt remorse about the tweets and knew what she was doing was wrong.

For her part, Love denies any wrongdoing and says she was simply repeating things Simorangkir had said to her (a charge Simorangkir denies). "We don't believe there's any defamation, and even if there were defamatory statements, there was no damage," James Janowitz, an attorney for Love, told THR.

Adding additional intrigue to the case, Love's attorneys plan to call a medical professional to testify that the rocker was not in a "subjectively malicious" state of mind when she began the Twitter rampage against Simorangkir and thus should not be punished for it because defamation was not intended.

If the jury accepts this defense, which THR calls "something akin to an insanity defense for social media," it would establish Twitter as something "so appealing and addictive" that Love was unable to comprehend how her tweets would be interpreted -- i.e. as facts subject to libel laws vs. opinions exempt from them -- by those following her.

Tags: courtney love

Comments

(7)

Wednesday 05 January

By What?!

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We all need to stay away from this kind of crowd. They are not getting anywhere. I wouldn't waste my time on Courtney.

By Linda

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SHE IS AN AIR HEAD, A LOSER, A FREAK...WHAT ELSE COULD ANYONE EXPECT FROM COURTNEY BUT TO HEAR SHE DID THIS TO HERSELF?! I FIND IT HYSTERICAL SHE IS THAT STUPID TO PUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT ON A SITE THAT EVERYONE CAN READ AND SEE..SHE IS DOOMED. NO LYING TO GET OUT OF THIS MESS YOU MADE FOR YOURSELF COURTNEY. AND TO THINK I THOUGHT MAYBE SHE GOT HER ACT TOGETHER FINALLY AND THEN THIS..WHAT NEXT I WONDER? OH COURTNEY...YOU ARE SOMETHING ELSE. STUPID IS, STUPID DOES GIRL!

By K

You lost custody of your daughter Courtney. Hello space brain?

By Ketielynn

Now if we could only sue politicians for lying, they always say what they think we want to hear..not the truth. I think she should have to suffer the consequenses for /if she lied.

By Bil(of rights)

Regaurdless of your opinion of this crusty dried up old hosebag(you pick the one) to get the court system involved is a HUGE waste of our money.

By toothis

Consider what type of person would ruin someone's life and not care. Sad, how Love is missing out on what it's like to be nice and helpful, which is one of life's true great pleasures.

Thursday 06 January

By Mumbone Jumbone

She was lead singer of a band called " Hole " That means she is a number 1 A - hole .

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