Actress Ryoko Hirosue wins defamation suit against tabloid magazine

Wednesday 18th June, 03:17 PM JST

TOKYO —

The Tokyo Regional Court on Tuesday ordered women’s tabloid magazine Josei Seven to pay 1.2 million yen to actress Ryoko Hirosue, 27, as compensation for defamation of her character in a story it ran.

According to the court decision, the magazine in March 2007 implied that Hirosue was involved in an extramarital affair with a man, posting a photo of the two of them on a motorbike.

Judge Noriaki Sudo said, “The report portrayed the plaintiff in a socially negative light as a wife and mother. The story cannot be regarded as factual and has nothing to do with the public interest.”

Hirosue had sued magazine publisher Shogakukan for 24 million yen.

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5 Comments

Bogi at 03:50 PM JST - 18th June

1.2 million. Great, that might even cover 10% of her legal fees!

And I'm sure that really hurt the magazine, too. It sends a clear message to tabloids. "Defame anyone you like because even if you're found guilty, damages will be much less than profits generated by your lies."
wanderlust at 07:02 PM JST - 18th June

Another quote from the judge said: "There is a high possibility that the article was not factual and it was reported without sufficient proof."

Not an absolute rebuttal, hence maybe just the 5% damages....

Where there is smoke, there is fire....
OssanULTRA at 09:40 PM JST - 18th June

What's a motorbike bike?
Betting at 12:28 AM JST - 19th June

"What's a motorbike bike?". Apparently they used to exist, but not anymore.
presto345 at 11:43 AM JST - 19th June

The judiciary here should get a little tougher with the sleaze press here. People's private lives are not everyone's business.