Britney sex tape claim 'not defamatory'
A judge has ruled that a story claiming Britney Spears and husband Kevin Federline made a sex tape was not defamatory, saying the star had put her sexuality “squarely and profitably” in the public eye.
Superior Court Judge Lisa Hart Cole threw out the singer’s $10m (€7.8m) lawsuit against celebrity magazine US Weekly, which reported last year that the couple were worried a member of their entourage planned to release a video they had made.
Spears claimed the article was libellous because it portrayed her as “acting goofy” while watching the alleged footage – which she denied existed anyway - with her lawyers.
But the judge wrote in her ruling that it was clear the lawsuit had not been brought for that reason.
“The issue is whether it is defamatory to state that a husband and wife taped themselves engaging in consensual sex,” she said.
“The backdrop against which this issue must be addressed is that the plaintiff has publicly portrayed herself in a sexual way in her performances, in published photographs and in a reality show.”
As Spears had “put her modern sexuality squarely, and profitably, before the public eye” it was unlikely the article could be found to be defamatory, she added.
In her ruling, Judge Hart drew on Spears’ 2005 reality show Britney & Kevin: Chaotic, which documented her relationship ith Federline based largely on home videos shot by the pop star.
She noted that the series showed Spears filming Federline naked in a shower and “talking uninhibitedly about her sex life“.
Ms Spears’ lawyers said the story was “a despicable work of fiction comprised of blatant lies from beginning to end“.
Judge Hart did not address whether the October 2005 story was true or false.
Spears sued after the magazine refused to issue a retraction. It said it stood by its reporting and was pleased with the judge’s decision.
Meanwhile the singer made a surprise appearance on David Letterman’s TV show, showing off her slimmed-down figure in a black minidress, just two months after giving birth to her second child.
