Entertainment Weekly Retracts the Libel, but Too Late

That esteemed publication has pulled their original post. In the eyes of the law, it does not matter: Libel attached at the moment of publication, albeit later retractions may have a bearing on the amount of damages.

I know that in certain cases, attempts to make the victim right cannot be used as evidence of admission of negligence, but I do not know if that applies in libel suits.

However, even if an immediate retraction limited the real dollar value of the damage to our reputations, in a case like the one here, where (A) the publication was made negligently or maliciously, and later admitted to be negligent, and (B) where the libelist (1) stated that the plaintiff (well, I am getting ahead of myself — no papers have been filed — let us call him the victim) was involved in a crime involving moral turpitude, or a felony; or (2) exposes a victim to ridicule; or (3) reflects adversely on the victim’s character, morality, integrity; or (4) impairs the victim’s ability to earn a living; or (5) suggests that the victim suffers from a physical or mental defect that would cause others to avoid him, then damages are presumed.

Three of those clearly are in evidence in this case. If we consider being a racist misogynist to be a physical or mental defect, four. If discrimination is a crime in the venue of the res, and a hate crime, then it clearly involves moral turpitude, and so we have at one go all five presumptive forms of libel at one go. Well done, gentlemen. Next time hire an editor and do your due diligence before you publish.

It has been many years since I practiced law, and this was never my field anyway, but I seem to recall from Torts 101 that a simple retraction is insufficient if the damages are presumptive. A law student who did not snooze in lecture would be able to inform you better than I.

As one commenter over at Vox Populi remarked aptly:

I feel like I’ve just read a retarded edition of Pravda that somehow slipped through a hole in the fabric of reality from the Harrison Bergeron universe.

For the record, Exhibit A:

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Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.