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Oprah in Court
The Case of the Mad Cow | Texas Cattlemen  vs. Oprah,  Harpo Productions, and Howard Lyman | Following a discussion of "mad cow" disease on her show in 1996, a group of Texas cattlemen took Oprah to court. Howard Lyman reported on Oprah's show that he believed that mad cow disease could cause an epidemic in America bigger than aids. Oprah asked the crowd: "Now doesn't that concern you all a little bit, right here, learning that? It has just stopped me cold  from eating another burger." Within seconds, beef prices in American markets started to plummet. The US cattle industry had already banned the practice causing mad cow disease and no case had ever occurred in the US. Also, William Hueston, former Agriculture Department expert on mad cow disease, reported that he was 'ambushed' on her show, charging that she riled up audience. He charged that his reassuring comments about safety of American beef were mostly edited out. The cattlemen's suit was the first major test of the product disparagement act allowing producers of perishable foods to sue those who knowingly disseminate false information stating or implying that the producer's product is not safe for public consumption. They charged talk show host Oprah Winfrey slandered American beef in the 1996 show on mad cow disease and sought over $11M in damages over the plunges in beef prices following her comments. The judge ruled that the suit would be tried solely on business disparagement law (rather than the food defamation law), which meant that the cattle ranchers must prove malice on the part of Ms Winfrey. A jury in Amarillo, Texas, ruled in favor of the talk-show host. "Free speech not only lives, it rocks," a beaming Oprah Winfrey said after jurors rejected the multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit by Texas cattlemen. "I have come from people who have struggled and died to have a voice in this country and I refuse to be muzzled." The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans (5th Cir.) later ruled that Oprah Winfrey and her guest Howard Lyman did not knowingly and falsely depict American beef as unsafe. The federal appeals court said that talk show host Oprah Winfrey 'melodramatized' mad cow disease but did not give false information about it or defame cattlemen. It upheld the verdict of Amarillo that rejected cattlemen's claims against Winfrey, her production company and vegetarian advocate Howard Lyman. Importance of this event:
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| Randolph Cook vs. Oprah Winfrey | A former boyfriend named Randolph Cook tried to sue Oprah Winfrey in 1997 for $20 million for allegedly blocking a tell-all book where he claimed they lived together for several months in 1985 and did drugs. Cook’s claims mark the second time reports surfaced about Winfrey’s involvement in a drug related love affair. Oprah Winfrey herself confessed to drug use in 1995. “And I've often said over the years…in my attempts to come out and say it, I've said many times I did things in my 20s that I was ashamed of, I did things I felt guilty about, but that is my life's great big secret that's always been held over my head,” Oprah explained on her show. “I always felt that the drug itself is not the problem but that I was addicted to the man.” Oprah then added: “I can't think of anything I wouldn't have done for that man.” | |
Racial profiling when crossing the Canadian border | Almon vs Canada in a Michigan Federal Court | In August 2007, it was reported that Oprah Winfrey, Condi Rice, and Colin Powell are among a host of A-list celebs who were just subpoenaed in a racial profiling case in a Michigan Federal Court. Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z, Condoleezza Rice, Eminem, Paris Hilton, Diddy, Colin Powell, Kobe Bryant and two former Taliban officials are some of the 30-plus names Jerome Almon has "commanded" to testify in his $900 million federal suit against the government of Canada. The CEO of MurderCap Records alleged in U.S. District Court in Michigan that Canadian immigration officials are guilty of flagrant racial profiling, which, he contends, the celebrities can prove. Almon wants to know why 50 Cent, DMX, Wilson Pickett and other black artists have had trouble entering, while Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Martha Stewart and other white celebrities with criminal records are free to skip back and forth across the border. Edit this page an update this item if you know how things turned out. For example, has it gone to court yet? How many celebs actually appeared in court or filed statements? What was the outcome of the case? |
The Mad Dash | Orit Greenberg vs Harpo | In March 2008, a woman claims in a lawsuit that she was injured in a dash for seats at Winfrey's talk show in Chicago. Orit Greenberg's lawsuit seeks $50,000 in damages. Greenberg claims Harpo Studios failed to control the audience on Dec. 5, 2006. The lawsuit says audience members were told to sit wherever they wanted. The crowd allegedly pushed Greenberg down a flight of stairs, causing "severe and permanent injuries." A Harpo Studios spokeswoman told The Associated Press the studio doesn't comment on pending litigation. |
| The Big Taker, rather than the Big Giver  | Darlene Tracy  vs Harpo  | Darlene Tracy, a mother-of-four from Boston alleges that producers of Oprah's Big Give show stole the idea from a proposal she sent to the company in February 2005. Tracy claims that she pitched a reality show called The Philanthropist to Ellen Rakieten and Jennifer Thornton, the executive producer and a producer of Winfrey's daytime talk show, in which contestants were judged on their ability to help out those less fortunate. Tracy claims Rakieten responded to her proposal and requested more information on the proposed series, which she promptly delivered. Four months later, Tracy says, Thornton broke the news that Harpo would be passing on the show. However, just over a year later, Winfrey announced on her show plans for a series similar—too similar, for Tracy—in concept to her original idea. Tracy filed a complaint in Boston's U.S. District Court (representing herself) to prevent the Big Give from airing. A judge quickly dismissed the filing after Winfrey's lawyers argued that Massachusetts wasn't the place to embark on the legal battle. Armed now with a team of lawyers, Tracy has filed an appeal, which includes documentation of her correspondence with the Oprah Winfrey Show producers. |
just_tonya |
Latest page update: made by just_tonya
, Apr 10 2008, 7:37 PM EDT
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