Libel Exercise

1. “Up until the day he died, he was a brilliant writer. But the drugs made him a thief, a pimp and a liar,” said friend Karen Smith, who was with Johnson at the time of his death.
-- This is a direct quote, so it would depend on what was published with this quote, either evidence for or against this quote and where we got that evidence. If he was a writer, he was a public figure, so the libel laws are less stringent


2. “Megan Fox is a man!” Headline on Weekly World News Web site
-- Could be libelous, although she is a public figure and it is unlikely that this comment will hurt her career at all. If it causes her emotional damage it might be libel, but I find that unlikely


3. “In my opinion, Kevin is a murdering rapist.”
-- It depends on what other evidence we have and whether Kevin is a public figure or not. It would definitely cause him harm in the public eye so I would be cautious about publishing this quote, unless it was after he was found guilty by a jury