Britney is planning to sue 8 different tabloids for reporting that her marriage is in trouble, but she’s not going to do it from the states, where celebrities are considered public personalities and are fair game by law – she’s filed suit in Ireland, where her chances of winning are much higher:
Spears is to sue the National Enquirer, based in Florida, for reports that her marriage to Kevin Federline was at an end. She is also suing seven other US and British publications that repeated the claims.
Foreign claimants have long been attracted to London because of the strict libel laws, but Belfast offers the prospect of high payouts, faster justice and lower costs.
Paul Tweed, senior partner at Johnson’s solicitors, who has been instructed by Spears, said he was also being consulted by Houston, Paula Abdul, the singer, and Steve Bing, film producer and father of Liz Hurley’s son Damian…
One law firm, which represents American celebrities suing in London, said: “They come to the UK because it is a good place to sue. In the US there is a public figure defence which means that if you have celebrity status you can’t sue anybody in America unless you can show that they acted from malice.”
Paul Tweed, senior partner at Johnson’s solicitors, who has been instructed by Spears, said he was also being consulted by Houston, Paula Abdul, the singer, and Steve Bing, film producer and father of Liz Hurley’s son Damian.
Belfast has similar libel laws to England, but waiting lists are shorter and the costs can be 75% lower. Many cases go to juries, which make higher awards. In one Belfast case Barney Eastwood, the boxing promoter, received an award of £450,000, the highest in Irish legal history.
If an American publication does not have assets in Britain, Tweed sues distributors and website hosts. He is currently taking action against Yahoo!
It doesn’t seem fair that celebrities can just file suit from England or Ireland in order to get around US libel laws, but major corporations avoid paying taxes by incorporating overseas. Exploiting tax and legal loopholes is just one of the ways that people hold onto their undeserved millions.
Here is Britney with Sean Preston and her mom and sister outside of Nobu. K-Fed was there, too, but is not pictured. There was supposedly a paparrazi fight as photographers jockied for pictures of the pregnant star. TMZ has a video of it, with people saying “back off” and swearing, but it doesn’t seem as exciting as they make it out to be. We were hoping for some punches and hair-pulling.
Pictures and tabloid story [via]
Like she’s going to win them all.Why does the press even bother with her anyway it’s over, done.When the press really gets sick of her and stops writing about her you’ll see her trying to get attention again.
Hooray!! She’s put some pants on Sean