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Bigfoot Prevails In Libel Suit vs. National Enquirer
SEATTLE, Washington. Bigfoot, the man-ape of the Northwest that has eluded capture for decades, was awarded a $14 million libel verdict against the National Enquirer today in a Seattle state court.
"I am gratified that the jury has finally made that rag pay for the abuse they have subjected me to over the years," Bigfoot said at a press conference. "I never dated Meredith Baxter-Birney, and I never 'shacked up' with Farrah Fawcett-Major, among other hyphenated actresses I've been linked with over the years."
The story that pushed the sasquatch over the edge claimed that Bigfoot is the father of a retarded teenaged boy by Whitney Houston, the troubled R&B singer. "If he's retarded, then so is every other 15 year-old boy in America who spends his time playing video games and watching 'Jackass' DVDs."
The National Enquirer has been less successful in defending itself against libel claims than East coast establishment newspapers like The New York Times, the Boston Globe and The Washington Post, which make up news stories that do not involve UFOs.
"I don't see how anyone could find any kind of professional fulfillment in that kind of reporting," said Enquirer editor Norman Phillips. "President Bush, U.N., Iraq—blotta, blotta, blotta, the same thing, day after day."
As a public figure, Bigfoot was required to prove that the Enquirer acted with "actual malice"--that is, with knowledge that its story was false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity. "All they had to do was read their own paper to know that Whitney has been in rehab for the past twenty years," said Bigfoot's lawyer, Harold Cooper.
The intensely private yeti said he would use the money to buy a motor home to tour the U.S., and for a retirement nest egg. "I'm getting older, and I need to plan for the future" he said. "I've lost a step, and in a few years I won't be able to catch household pets anymore."
Bigfoot attended the Golden Globe awards with Jennifer Aniston, the former "Friends" star, but insists that they are "just friends".
SEATTLE, Washington. Bigfoot, the man-ape of the Northwest that has eluded capture for decades, was awarded a $14 million libel verdict against the National Enquirer today in a Seattle state court.
"I am gratified that the jury has finally made that rag pay for the abuse they have subjected me to over the years," Bigfoot said at a press conference. "I never dated Meredith Baxter-Birney, and I never 'shacked up' with Farrah Fawcett-Major, among other hyphenated actresses I've been linked with over the years."
The story that pushed the sasquatch over the edge claimed that Bigfoot is the father of a retarded teenaged boy by Whitney Houston, the troubled R&B singer. "If he's retarded, then so is every other 15 year-old boy in America who spends his time playing video games and watching 'Jackass' DVDs."
The National Enquirer has been less successful in defending itself against libel claims than East coast establishment newspapers like The New York Times, the Boston Globe and The Washington Post, which make up news stories that do not involve UFOs.
"I don't see how anyone could find any kind of professional fulfillment in that kind of reporting," said Enquirer editor Norman Phillips. "President Bush, U.N., Iraq—blotta, blotta, blotta, the same thing, day after day."
As a public figure, Bigfoot was required to prove that the Enquirer acted with "actual malice"--that is, with knowledge that its story was false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity. "All they had to do was read their own paper to know that Whitney has been in rehab for the past twenty years," said Bigfoot's lawyer, Harold Cooper.
The intensely private yeti said he would use the money to buy a motor home to tour the U.S., and for a retirement nest egg. "I'm getting older, and I need to plan for the future" he said. "I've lost a step, and in a few years I won't be able to catch household pets anymore."
Bigfoot attended the Golden Globe awards with Jennifer Aniston, the former "Friends" star, but insists that they are "just friends".