Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Texas
Is This Libel?
Person A was posting on an internet forum discussing Person B who has been the subject of various news stories in the news media .
Person A said that in the past, he had said that instead of pursuing Activity X, Person B could make more money as a prostitute, but now he thought she was too unattactive (or words to that effect) for that, based on having seen her picture in the news since then (or words to that effect).
Person C then posted in reponse to Person A and quoted the portion of Person A's post regarding whether Person B might be able to make money as a prostitute. Person C also linked to an online photo of Person B from a news story. Person C then posted implying the photo showed that Person B was indeed not attractive enough to make much money as a prostitute .
Was what Person A and/or Person C said libel? Could it be considered as such? Could a lawsuit for libel be initiated based on those comments?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Is This Libel?
Bad manners and opinion don't rise to the level of libel. Then, too, she may be a public figure.
Libel is a statement of material fact that is untrue and made without inquiry as to the truth or falsity of the statement.