Phaedra “Everybody Knows” Parks Is Suing The Pants Off of Vibe

May 25th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

Remember a couple of months ago when Vibe broke a story on Angela Stanton, Phaedra’s supposed old buddy who exposed their criminal past making fraudulent checks and flipping cars back in the day? Well Phaedra’s not having it. She just filed a lawsuit against Vibe magazine for $30 million dollars for publishing the story. She’s seeking $5 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages, attorney fees, and a published retraction.

In documents from the Courthouse News Service, Phaedra claims that Vibe.com “had actual knowledge that the accusations against plaintiff were false prior to publication”:

Parks claims the defendant published a defamatory article about her on www.vibe.com, on March 14, under the headline, “‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Star Phaedra Parks Exposed!” She says a similar article an interview were published at uptownmagazine.com, both of which were still online when she filed the complaint Tuesday.

She claims the articles “convey a grossly inaccurate and false impression of Stanton’s relationship with plaintiff,” and “falsely accuse plaintiff of being a crooked attorney who knows how to commit crimes, has committed crimes, and knows how to cover up her criminal activity.”

Parks claims Vibe published all of Stanton’s allegations in the book “Lies of a Real Housewife: Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil.”… the complaint states: “The gist of the book is that plaintiff is a crooked attorney who engages in professional misconduct and a multitude of criminal acts, is false and defamatory.

“The book in its entirety constitutes libel per se in that it imputes criminal activity to plaintiff. …

“Prior to the publication, and evidencing a reckless disregard of truth or falsity, defendant failed and refused to provide plaintiff with an opportunity to respond to the allegations made against her in the articles, interviews, and the book. “Defendant knowingly and purposely avoided and ignored evidence establishing the falsity of the articles, interviews, and the book prior to publishing them. …

“Prior to the publication of the false and defamatory statements, defendant had actual knowledge that the criminal activity alleged by Stanton had occurred many years ago and had been thoroughly investigated by law enforcement authorities with no criminal charges being brought against plaintiff, but with criminal charges being brought against Stanton, which resulted in her incarceration in prison.

“Evidencing a reckless disregard for truth or falsity, defendant published accusations against Plaintiff without conducting even a cursory investigation, which failure constitutes gross negligence.”

Welp, it’s not looking like such a good day for Vibe. Interesting that Phaedra was investigated for the crimes Angela claimed she committed, sounds like somebody might have gotten off…but I didn’t say that.

Do you think Phaedra will win her suit?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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  • fitnessforlife

    Sue their pants off!

  • Anonymous

    I will not be surprise if these allegations are true. It makes sense, because an Attorney married to a criminal is more to it  than what we see. I still like Phaedra because she’s not necessarily proving to be perfect, she’s just being herself on the show especially last season.

  • MsObsidian

    Well, even if she did do it.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she did, because she was main one said “every saint has a past, every sinner has a future, can the church say Amen”.  Either way, I still like Phaedra. She is intelligent and very articulate.

  • Gmarie

    they will settle. they can barely afford to keep the magazine afloat…and that’s what they get for shotty journalism

  • KourageousKya

    All magazines should learn from this!! You can’t just “trust” people’s word to get good gossip, you have to know the facts!! Good for you Phaedra! Hopefully she gets at least 20 mil….

  • Ms_Mara

    I don’t blame her, I would have done the same thing. For those questioning the large monetary amount, can you really put a price tag on your good name? Of course she won’t get $30 mil, but I bet they will happily settle out of court for a few mil to be done with her. lol

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=433408 Shana Gillis

    just because you aren’t charged doesn’t mean you weren’t guilty, just that they didn’t have enough evidence to prove it.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/L6SG6SWCRNHZB24DTHR6EFQIFE Erica

      Exactly.  So if they can’t prove, they are liable for slander. And I hope she gets all the money she’s suing for.  These media outlets say whatever they want and get away with it, way too often.

      And, we as public are not sure what to believe. I hope she sues the brakes off them!!

  • LadyRayK

    What I think? I think those “allegations” are the God honest truth! I always questioned what was a ” law abiding” “God-fearing” attorney doing married to a convicted felon, who in my opinion doesn’t seem to have been ” reformed” ? I just find it interesting that she is being accused of committing the same crime her husband was convicted of and did time for! Coincidence? Yeah, I think not! I won’t be the least bit surprise if it turns out their whole marriage is so type of arrangement. Either she helped him get his sentence reduced in exchange for a “wife” title and a kid; or he took the wrap for her in exchange to be a “kept” man when got out. Yeah I know I have a suspicious mind, but u can’t deny that what I’m saying does make sense.

    • http://www.peridotdynasty.com/ Roni W

      Phaedra has been suspect to me for a minute since her li’l history came up. What you said makes SO much sense.

    • DoinMe

      I agree. Phaedra has a lot of people fooled with that “southern Belle” foolishness. She hangs out with suspicious characters and I believe she has a dark, shady side to her as well. To this day, she still can’t articulate what Apollo does for a living, which says to me that he’s still into some crooked and illegal stuff. 

    • amused

      a person who looks that deep into someone else’s life has way too much time on their hands. 

  • Nic

    This is what you do when a publication will knowingly print false stories….Phaedra took a page from Tom Cruise, Will Smith and a few others. If it AIN’T true, you SUE. (My inner Johnny Cochran trying to come out)

  • DoinMe

    Let’s be real here. She went after Vibe and not Angela Stanton, the author. I find that very peculiar. Phaedra is looking for a settlement moreso than clearing her name. If she was so adamant about Stanton lying, why isn’t she named in the lawsuit too? My guess is that by including Angela in a lawsuit, she would be opening herself up to being exposed even further. She got away with their crimes, so I’m sure she doesn’t want to open up that can of worms again. 

    • http://www.peridotdynasty.com/ Roni W

      Unnfh. I wonder what kind of skeletons she got in her closet. I wonder why she chose to sue the mag when the “friend” had the story, too.

      The world will never know. :-P

      • Ms_sparks

        I don’t think that I would have sued the friend because she likely does not have any money. I would sue Vibe because they made the story public. The friend could not have made it public without the help of Vibe. Vibe has more to loose.

  • ssb

    30 million dollars is sufficient for having your name and reputation tarnished. Such allegations could really ruin her creditability. Before you publish anything about anybody it has to be verified as being true.

  • Eangel872003

    she might get a lil something… hope Vibe learns from this

  • kimbrbelle

    She shouldn’t tale that lying down! Good for Phaedra!

  • Guest123

    that’s what you get for messing with a practicing attorney not afraid to come after you… come on now… she ask for that much because she knows she wouldn’t get all that so ask for more than you think you’ll get and then negoiate for a little less. bargining trick

  • @msredbonebrite

    Thirty mill sounds a little far fetched, but… *shrugs*. I’m sure they’ll settle out of court for an undisclosed sum…

    • http://www.facebook.com/lawuan.goldsboroughpaige Lawuan Goldsborough Paige

      A say $10million is reasonable cosidering Phadera’s status.

  • Htpnksuga23

    30 million dollars really??? That seems money hungry to me which surprises me because mrs. parks has money but that would put vibe out of business probably.. and I dont know one person who went out and brought the issues to read that article..so if your going to sue vibe you should also include other cites that  published clips of it. 

    reminds me of kimk and her fav hobby of suing people for money..i bet money of her money is from he sex tape, suing people for money and appearances.

  • Tshgregson

    thats what vibe gets

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