Categories: OLD Media Moves

Casino magnate suing WSJ reporter for libel

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson sued a Wall Street Journal reporter for libel, seeking damages for a December article in which he was described as “foul-mouthed,” according to the complaint filed in Hong Kong.

Keach Hagey of The Journal writes, “The article ran under the headline ‘Fired Executive Rankles Casino Industry’ in the U.S. edition of the newspaper, but also appeared in overseas editions and on WSJ.com.

“The article, which ran in early December, contrasted Mr. Jacobs, ‘a 6-foot-5-inch-tall Ivy League graduate who colleagues say rarely curses,’ with Mr. Adelson, ‘a scrappy, foul-mouthed billionaire from working-class Dorchester, Mass.’

“The story was co-written by Kate O’Keeffe, a Journal reporter based in Hong Kong, and Alexandra Berzon, a U.S.-based reporter but the suit names only Ms. O’Keeffe. It doesn’t name the Journal or its publisher, News Corp.‘s Dow Jones & Co.

“The suit, filed on Feb. 22 in Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance, seeks ‘damages, including aggravated, exemplary and special damages.’

“The Wall Street Journal said it is representing Ms. O’Keeffe in the suit. ‘We will vigorously defend Ms. O’Keeffe in this lawsuit,’ said a Wall Street Journal spokeswoman. The company declined to comment further.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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