Libel in the Classifieds: Disney Star an Escort?

With the popularity and influence of Disney teens like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers, the above question easily gets anyone’s attention. That is why Brenda Song sued an escort service that used her photo in personal ads that appeared in L.A. Weekly in April 2008.

The ad featured Song’s—aka “Layla’s”— image with a phone number and tagline that said “Come get lei’d.” According to a more elaborate article on E! Online news, Song’s lawyer actually called the number and was promised a meeting with the girl in the image. Vibe Media Inc. is the company responsible for the ad.

Song sued the company and its owner, Ali Askari, for $100,000 charging “libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress and commercial misappropriation of her photo and likeness.” The lawsuit was revised when Vanessa Sena was found to be responsible for creating the ad. The ad was actually for Cityvibe.com, an escort service and subsidiary of Vibe Media Inc.

This photo from The Insider shows the ad side-by-side with a picture of Song easily found on the internet

On March 5, the final judgment required Sena to pay Song $16,000 for the harm done by the ad and to write a personal letter of apology. If both actions are not done by December 1, Sena will have to pay $100,000.

The article itself is very straightforward and uses an inverted pyramid format. This type of writing is typical and effective for online news sites that attract readers who quickly browse for interesting stories.

This case is a great example of how harmful libel can truly be. The influence these Disney stars have is astounding; moreover, the possibility of children viewing a role model in this light is not acceptable. Thankfully, Star's representatives caught the ad and justice was served.

Flaming Libel

In search of an issue relevant to libel, I was fairly confident that I could rely on the news source from my previous posting, Rolling Stone. I didn’t need to peruse the magazine’s Web site for more than a minute before I discovered an article that just might do the trick.
In the magazine’s “Smoking Section” on Wednesday, reporter Austin Scaggs composed an exclusive article called Wayne Coyne Tears Apart Arcade Fire. In this story, Flaming Lips frontman, Coyne, sounds off about what he considers a “pompous” attitude on part of Arcade Fire.
He includes in his tirade that the band members “treat people like shit,” including their traveling crew and even their fans. He drives the point home by saying, “they treat everybody in their vicinity like shit.” These acerbic remarks go on to include numerous expletives as Coyne becomes emphatic about Arcade Fire’s arrogant attitude.
As we discussed in class, the good people of Rolling Stone have less to worry about in terms of being sued for libel because Arcade Fire’s members are considered public figures because of their prominence in the music world. Additionally, Rolling Stone covers itself by contacting the band’s publicist, even though this conversation only entailed a refusal to comment. This clears the magazine of “reckless disregard for the truth” because they attempted to contact the target of the verbal assaults instead of simply printing the information without further action.
If Arcade Fire chose to sue for libel, they would certainly have three of the five points of libel covered. These remarks were obviously published, and the band was identified. These comments, if taken seriously, would cause harm to the band’s reputation. Who wants to attend the show of a band who “treats the audience like shit?” The main issues here are falsity and fault through actual malice, because the band, as previously stated, falls under the category of public figures.
While I cannot conceive of a way in which the defendant could prove that the band treated basically everyone and everything “like shit,” there may be a case for actual malice because of the nature of Coyne’s remarks.
Whether libelous or not, these remarks may have touched a nerve with Arcade Fire, who recently fired a retaliation against the Flaming Lips on their website.