Harming someone's reputation in speech with falsehoods is known as slander, and doing the same thing in writing is known as libel (which sometimes includes speech as well). Any ordinary citizen who can claim to have suffered harm as a result of such defamation may sue. So why aren't politicians suing all the time? Because an exception is made for "public persons" (a category that includes most other celebrities as well), who must also prove that any such statement was made with "reckless disregard for the truth". And although, even by that standard, public persons are defamed all the time, most of them have decided that it's better to just grin and bear it.
The article was full of lies and defamations.
accused the newspaper columnist of defamation of character
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In a statement shared with The Guardian, a spokesperson for Ferguson said the duchess felt compelled to send the email after Epstein allegedly threatened to sue her for defamation over her comments to the Standard.—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2025 New revelations emerge in David Sills' lawsuit against SBC as the denomination hopes to defeat a second major defamation case involving abuse allegations.—Laura L. Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 26 Sep. 2025 Tory Lanez has filed for a protective order to distance himself from Megan Thee Stallion‘s defamation lawsuit against blogger Milagro Gramz, legal name Milagro Cooper.—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 25 Sep. 2025 Represented by attorney Benjamin Levine of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, Gardner argued there was no defamation.—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 25 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for defamation
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