Famous people are often panned, and while generally it can be taken in stride, some accusations can be just too wild or too offensive to be brushed off easily. Even a trifling implication can send a celeb scurrying to court to initiate a lawsuit. Untrue speculation about a well-known person can come off costly!
There is quite a large number of celebrities who pulled off a hugely successful defamation lawsuit.
Keira Knightley
Once the Daily Mail gave out the information that the British actress was having problems with an eating disorder and could be blamed for the demise of an anorexic young woman. This enraged her so much that Knightley filed a suit and won thousands of dollars that went to a charity.
Sharon Stone
When two American magazines were told by one Renato Calabria, a plastic surgeon, that Stone had undergone a facelift, they didn’t expect her to deny it. Yet that is what she did, adding that the publicized bit of information was detrimental for her landing work. She went on to sue Calabria and received damages for an unrevealed sum.
Rebel Wilson
The Australian comedian collected 4.5 million Australian dollars in a defamation case won against Bauer Media Group – the conglomerate was accused of articles that had debunked her alleged manifold lies thereby undermining the actress‘s reputation.
At a later hearing on the appeal of Bauer Media the sum of the payout was significantly reduced, the decision Wilson attempted to override later, but failed.
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise fell victim to an actor playing in gay adult movies who seemed to have trumped up a story of their love affair for a French magazine. It was in 2003, and the implication was that the incident proved instrumental for the termination of Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s marriage.
Cruise won the libel case and the story cost the actor 10 million dollars.
Cameron Diaz
The story that the British Sun newspaper ran – seemingly corroborated with a photo that was so blurred that hardly anything could be made out – said the actress was engaged in a sex episode with her friend Shane Nickerson. Back then both Diaz and Nickerson had their own respective relationships, and the story wrought quite a lot of damage. Diaz went to court and collected an unspecified sum in the payoff.
Katie Holmes
The Star, a celebrity gossip sheet, published an article in 2011 which denounced Katie Holmes as a drug addict. The incensed actress brought a lawsuit and won $50 million. The Star was moved to bring in an apology and promised to make good with a sumptuous donation to a non-profit organization patronized by the A-lister.
Donald Trump
When Donald Trump was heard to utter cutting comments on Mexican immigrants, Univision made to split with him and the Miss Universe Organization. The ex-president refused to take it lying down: he got at them for a breach of contract aggravated by a defamation complaint that could result in $500 million in damages.
There was a settlement reached in February 2016 with the sum of money paid out left unrevealed.
Kate Winslet
One day Kate Winslet woke up to read in the Daily Mail that she had been untruthful about her workout routine; the article also carried her nude photos. To crown it, the article referred to her as “the most irritating actress” of the present time. Leaving aside the dubious question of being entitled to their opinion of her acting, she instituted a suit for libel. Her honesty was defended by the High Court in London, and the actress became richer by 25,000 British pounds.
J.K. Rowling
The Harry Potter creator had her share of lies. Six years ago the Daily Mail tried to discount the writer‘s story about her being subjected to stigmatization by certain churchgoers. Rowling hit back with a libel suit. The Daily Mail had to apologize and remit her an unspecified sum for moral damage.
