Actress Ryoko Hirosue was awarded 4.4 million yen compensation by the Tokyo District Court after it ruled weekly magazine Shukan Gendai had defamed her with a story claiming she was a bad parent.
The court blasted Kodansha Ltd., publisher of Shukan Gendai, as well as the weekly's former editor in chief, over the May 7 to 14 2005 double issue in which it ran a story under the headline "Hirosue forgets about parenting to booze at host club, screams 'I want to appear in a 9 p.m. Monday drama."
Both the headline and part of the story gave the impression that the plaintiff was an irresponsible parent leading an abnormal private life, causing damage to her reputation and clearly being defamatory," Presiding Judge Nobuhiro Katada said as he handed down the ruling.
Kodansha Ltd., publisher of Shukan Gendai, was outraged by the decision.
"This ruling can only be thought to go against socially acceptable behavior," a Kodansha spokesman said. "It's extremely regrettable."
In its May 7 to 14 2005 edition, Shukan Gendai accused Hirosue of drunkenness and partying at a host club, as well as failing to make a comeback as an actress.
Hirosue responded to the story by suing Kodansha and the editor for defamation, demanding 23.7 million yen in compensation. (Mainichi) Sourse:www.mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp |