UPDATE: Love Twibel Case Slated for January Trial

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Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson last week denied a summary judgment motion by attorneys for Courtney Love, clearing the way for her to become the first celebrity to go through a twibel trial for her alleged defamatory statements against her former attorney, The Hollywood Reporter reported last week.

The 49-year-old Love, actress, chanteuse for Hole, widow of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain, gossip column fodder and overall train wreck, was sued by attorney Rhonda Holmes, whose firm, Holmes & Gordon, represented Love in a 2008 fraud claim against Cobain's Estate, until Love terminated her (see "TUOL" post 5/27/11). The alleged defamatory tweet by Love: "I was f------ devestated [sic] when Rhonda J. Holmes esq. of San Diego was bought off @FairNewsSpears perhaps you can get a quote."

Judge Johnson rejected Love's attorneys' argument that the allegedly offensive statement constituted Internet rhetorical hyperbole/opinion and was incapable of a defamatory meaning. Likewise, Judge Johnson said defendant's claim that the statement did not identify the plaintiff law firm by name, an essential element of a defamation count, was an issue to be decided by a jury.

The plaintiff will have to satisfy the actual malice standard to sustain its twibel claim; in other words, that Love knew her accusation that the plaintiff firm was bribed was false or that she made the alleged claim with reckless disregard of its truth or falsity.

According to newspaper accounts, Love allegedly agreed to settle the suit for $600,000 and publish a retraction, but did not follow through. The case is set for trial January 13, 2014, barring a settlement.

Beastly Cuts: Troubled Website Dumps Two Dozen Writers & Editors

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Nostalgia isn't  always a good thing, as The Daily Beast staffers will attest, after massive layoffs last week restored the Web site to staff levels five years ago, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.

Two dozen editors and reporters were sacked, leaving the Beast workforce at approximately 65, THR.com reported. Reductions hit bureaus in New York and Washington, D.C. and decimated the Los Angeles staff, which now consists solely of one senior writer.

The Daily Beast, which is owned by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp., is feeling the pain created by the parent company's ill-fated purchase of Newsweek in 2010.

Fox News Axes Corp Comm. Exec VP; 'Financial Irregulariies' Alleged

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Brian Lewis, who has been at Roger Ailes' side since cable powerhouse Fox News Channel's inception 17 years ago, was terminated for cause July 25 and escorted from the premises where he most recently served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, according to an account by The Hollywood Reporter.

The network issued a statement that Lewis was terminated for alleged breach of his employment contract and over purported issues involving "financial irregularities."  Lewis kept a watchful eye over public relations matters involving Fox News, Fox Business Network, 20th Television and Fox Television Stations, according to the THR article.

Lewis fostered a close relationship with Ailes and was considered his (far?) right-hand man. He joined Fox in 1996 as vice president of public relations and most recently, acted as a liason to author Zev Chafets, who recently completed a flattering biography of Ailes, Roger Ailes: Off Camera.

'Lights, Camera...Lawsuit'

Image via WikipediaCharlie Sheen is going before the camera again, only this time, it will be in a courtroom.

The Hollywood Reporter's THR, Esq. blog reports that the judge presiding over Sheen's multi-million lawsuit against Warner Bros. and Two and a Half Men co-creator Chuck Lorre has decided the case will be televised via a single video camera.

Over the defendants' objections, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Allan Goodman sided with media organizations, saying the proceedings were occurring in a "public forum," in allowing the presence of a camera. Sheen and his counsel did not object to the camera (or a vat of tiger blood, a gallery filled with goddesses, or anything else, for that matter).

Whether the legal drama will play out in a courtroom or in a private arbitration hearing has yet to be decided.

Cable News Ops Join Network News in Downward Spin

Image by trainman74 via FlickrCable news viewership has stalled and network evening news ratings continued to shrink for a thirtieth consecutive year, according to the annual Project for Excellence in Journalism State of the News Media report released today.

As reported by Broadcasting & Cable and The Hollywood Reporter, evening newscasts by the former "Big 3" networks plunged 3.4 percent in viewership compared to the previous year. The Brian Williams-anchored NBC Nightly News suffered the least in 2010, dropping 1.4 percent to an average 8.5 million viewers nightly, compared to a 3.9 percent decline in viewers to 7.43 million for Diane Sawyer's ABC World News and the free-falling CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, which plummeted 5.5 percent to an average audience of 5.65 million.

Meanwhile, the news wasn't so bright for CNN, Fox News and MSNBC either, where the median prime-time  audience collectively shrank by 16 percent to 3.2 million, based on Nielsen Media Research figures. CNN led the march off the cliff, dropping 37 percent to 564,000 viewers, compared to Fox's 11 percent decline to 1.9 million viewers, and MSNBC's 5 percent drop-off to 747,000 watchers. Daytime viewership fell 12 percent for the cable threesome.

Online media, alone, saw its audience increase in 2010 by 17 percent. A December 2010, survey cited the Internet as the source for national and international news among 41 percent of respondents.

UPDATE: Hole Singer Loses Libel Match: $430,000-Love.

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeFollowing up on a "TUOL" post on 2/2/11, actress, Hole lead vocalist, and all-around non-role model Courtney Love has put an end to the defamation suit brought against her by fashion designer Boudoir Queen Dawn Simorangkir. 

Based on her 20-minute Tweet-fest of harsh comments against the plaintiff in 2009, including calling her a "nasty, lying hosebag thief," and a prostitute and drug addict,  Love will pay Dawn Simorangkir $430,000, beginning with a payment today, and continuing through 2014, according to a report in today's Hollywood Reporter legal Web site, THR, Esq. 

The case, Dawn Simorangkir a/k/a Dawn Younger-Smith v. Courtney Michelle Love et al. (Case No. BC41059), was scheduled for trial In Los Angeles County Superior Court, and promised to address novel legal issues, such as how to calculate damage to one's reputation in the Twittersphere. (See "TUOL" post 8/25/09.)

With the lawsuit behind her, the defendant can resume being Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain's widow.