Read the following passages and advise the parties.

Question

Glossips, a monthly fashion and TV magazine, is famous for its celebrity gossips. The December’s issue includes the following stories: “Caught and Kicked Out”---- a photo showing celebrities in worse for wear leaving a club. Underneath the heading, but in much smaller print, it was written that these images are staged photos using celebrity lookalikes. “Profit over People”---- a detailed article in which claims are made about a famous discount clothing company, Heels and Hoods. The feature suggests that company is: • Exploiting their workers by paying low wages; • Destroying the environment through their continued use of toxic dyes; • Forcing workers in the developing world to work in ‘inhumane and degrading’ conditions Advise the editor of the magazine about the potential liability in the tort of defamation.

Answer 1

The magazine's potential liability in the tory of defamation would be limited under New York Times v. Sullivan, where the Supreme Court addressed the issue of defamation.

The Court ruled that the 1st Amendment freedom of speech provisions limits a public officials ability to sue for defamation. A public official would have to prove that the offending party acted with "actual malice," which means that they acted with "reckless disregard of whether [the statement] was false or not."

In this instance, the magazine's focus is on celebrities, who would be deemed "public officials" under NY Times v. Sullivan and therefore they would have to prove that the magazine's stories and statements were made with actual malice as described in NY Times v. Sullivan.