Sarah Palin Sues New York Times for Defamation

The lawyers also refer to Blow’s column, “She Who Must Not Be Named,” that was critical of the left’s and the establishment press’s continued coverage of Palin. In Blow’s column, he asks, “What purpose does it serve other than inflaming passions to drive viewership and Web clicks?”

The complaint points out that Blow’s “column acknowledges that there is existing hostility held toward Mrs. Palin, and also recognizes that her name and attacks upon her inflame passions and thereby drive viewership and Web clicks to media companies.”

The Times published the Palin Article with actual knowledge that stories attacking Mrs. Palin inflame passions, which drives viewership and Web clicks,” the complaint further reads. “Thus, The Times knowingly and voluntarily exploited and retained a benefit conferred by Mrs. Palin, in special circumstances particular to this case in which it would be inequitable for The Times to retain that benefit without paying the value thereof to Mrs. Palin.”

Palin’s attorneys argue that the Times’ “conduct was committed knowingly, intentionally, willfully, wantonly and maliciously, with the intent to harm Mrs. Palin, or in blatant disregard of the substantial likelihood of causing her harm, thereby entitling Mrs. Palin to an award of punitive damages.”

Two of Palin’s lawyers–Messrs. Turkel and Vogt–successfully represented Hulk Hogan in his $140 million invasion of privacy suit against Gawker after Gawker published Hogan’s sex tape. As noted on the firm’s website, they “convinced a Pinellas County jury to award Terry Bollea, professionally known as Hulk Hogan, $55 million in economic damages and another $60 million in damages for emotional distress. The jury awarded an additional $25.1 million in punitive damages, making the verdict one of the largest contested verdicts in Pinellas County history.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *