Posted on 04/21/2014 8:46:40 PM PDT by Mariner
“Or can one simply come and say ‘so and so’ molested me, do a writeup of how that abuse occured, and file a suit asking for monetary damages?”
Yes, you can file a lawsuit for just about anything. You may not win, and the judge might throw it out before you see a courtroom, but as long as you fill out the paperwork correctly and pay any necessary fees, you can file it.
“My question is - before these accusations are made public, is their a standard of proof that is required that goes beyond simply writing a statement on what was done?”
No, unless there is some kind of gag order by the court, the standard 1st Amendment freedoms apply. You can go accuse anybody of anything publicly, but if you do it maliciously, you open yourself up to be sued by them.
That remedy doesn’t help much for celebrities, because they are held to a different standard in a libel or defamation suit. They are expected to endure a certain amount of negative speech about them simply because they are a public figure. So, for example, I can say “Obama is a two bit street hustling conman”, and have little fear that he would be able to win a libel suit against me for that. If I said it about my neighbor, he could probably get a payday.
Also, celebrities generally have plenty of money, while those accusing them may not, so suing false accusers for libel, even if they win, is more of a symbolic victory.
“It is really simple, homosexuals go back to being box office toxins.”
I’d hope so, but I doubt it. As long as a fruit loop can make a studio a few hundred million every couple years, they are going to move mountains to protect that asset.
Back in the day, the studios would go to great lengths to help their homo actors keep their skeletons in the closet. They were pimping out young starlets like Natalie Wood as beards for queers all over town to avoid the public figuring it out, rather than just dumping them and losing potential future earnings.
it does kill the shelf life of a product.
new star trek is just not credible.
original trek is so so because of mr. fond of boy scouts in the wrong way.
either way the wallet stays closed.
the fact there are putures and multiple stories of defacto orgies (without women present) speaks volumes.
Sure, for you, but obviously not for enough consumers for it to make any difference to the studios.
Yes, but the question I was responding to was not specifically about this case, just about public accusations in general.
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