This week marked a victory for country music star Blake Shelton, as a judge rejected In Touch Weekly’s request to throw out Shelton’s defamation lawsuit against the magazine.
Back in September 2015, In Touch Weekly featured The Voice coach on the front cover with the headline “Rehab for Blake: He Finally Hits Rock Bottom” and the issue included an article with anecdotes about Shelton’s supposed drinking problem and how it led to his divorce from fellow country superstar Miranda Lambert. The story prompted Shelton to sue the magazine’s publisher, Bauer Publishing Co., for defamation. He is seeking over $1 million in damages and an injunction.
“Mr. Shelton is not in rehab and has no plans to go to rehab, which Bauer would have known had it bothered to contact any of Mr. Shelton’s representatives prior to publication of its misleading Rehab Story,” the lawsuit read.
This year, Bauer filed a claim that the story wasn’t libel because “it would be entirely commendable for Shelton to seek rehab considering his undisputed history of bragging about his own drunkenness and his well-publicized behavior while under the influence of alcohol.”
Judge Christina A. Snyder, however, found that readers could imply from the headline that Shelton was entering rehab.
“No courts appear to have held that defamation claims premised upon false reports of treatment in rehabilitation must fail, as a matter of law. This Court accordingly declines to be the first,” Snyder wrote.
The case will now be heading to trial.
