Courtney Love acquitted in landmark Twitter ruling
US singer and actress Courtney Love has been acquitted of defaming her former lawyer following a landmark Twitter ruling.
A US jury cleared the singer after hearing evidence that she had falsely alleged in a 2010 tweet that Rhonda Holmes, her former lawyer, had been ’bought off’. The full tweet read: “I was devastated when Rhonda J Holmes Esq of San Diego was bought off".
Love contended that the tweet had not been intended for public consumption but to be sent as a private message and deleted it immediately upon realising her mistake.
Whilst acknowledging that the tweet contained information which was false the jury decided that Love was not aware that this was so and thus cleared her of defamation.
Returning to Twitter after the verdict Love tweeted: “I can't thank you enough Dongell Lawrence Finney LLP, the most incredible law firm on the planet. We won this epic battle. #justiceprevails."
Love’s courtroom appearance is the first high-profile Twitter case to be brought before a US jury.
Last week, her lawyers had warned that the case could set a defamation precedent on social media.