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In one of the more colorful lawsuits of recent times, Naomi Campbell sued the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph for falsely claiming the supermodel was planning an elephant polo match in India for her boyfriend’s birthday.

The court has ruled and Campbell has won her case and just collected “substantial” damages from the paper.

The Daily Telegraph said Campbell was arranging the tournament in Jodhpur for her Russian billionaire partner, Vladimir Doronin’s 50th birthday. After the article published, several animal welfare activists criticized Campbell. But the facts in the article turned out to be untrue.

The 42-year-old Campbell’s lawyer, Gideon Benaim, argued to a judge at London’s High Court that the story was “simply false and the criticisms unfounded” and attracted “a storm of adverse publicity against Ms. Campbell,” reports The Grio. Benaim claimed the article was widely republished in the Indian press and elsewhere, including over the Internet.

A lawyer for the Daily Telegraph’s publisher admitted to the court the newspaper regretted running the article.

Campbell said in a statement that she was “glad that the matter has been resolved and I accept the newspaper’s apology.”

Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

It sounds like a bizarre story—Naomi Campbell suing a newspaper over a story about elephant polo. Yep, you read right. But the details explain it all.

In November, the supermodel threw a birthday party for  her Russian billionaire boyfriend, Vladislav Doronin, Calling it a lavish bash would be an understatement. “Campbell’s fete included chartered jets flying in A-list guests from all over the world, a 15th-century Indian fort and live music from Diana Ross,” reports the Huffington Post. But, according to a story in London’s Daily Telegraph, Campbell also organized an elephant polo match in India for the birthday celebration. Because of the story, Campbell and Doronin received stern warnings from animal welfare groups, says HuffPo. This understandably made Campbell, who is known to never back down from a fight, mad. This time however she got her lawyers involved.

Now the star of “The Face” is suing the British newspaper for libel. “Campbell first denied the elephant polo match back in November, saying through a spokesperson that the rumors were “completely untrue.”

“On December 5, she and her legal counsel filed a libel claim in London,” says the story. The newspaper has since taken down the story from its website.

We’ve never heard of playing polo on elephants. (Horses, yes.) But elephant polo is a sport that goes way back and is highly controversial. “Animal rights groups like PETA have been long-time critics of elephant polo, calling the sport a “shameful vestige of the British Empire” and denouncing the practice of keeping the animals chained in captivity,” explains Huffington Post.

Sounds like Naomi might actually have a good point on this one.

Source: Caller.com

The celebration is definitely over for sprinter Tianna Madison who won gold at the London Olympics this summer as part of the 4×100 meter relay team. The ladies actually set a new world record after the race, but unfortunately for Tianna she now has to turn her attention to legal matters — like the lawsuit her parents have filed against her.

According to the Chronicle-Telegram:

This week, Jo Ann and Robert Madison filed a libel, slander and defamation lawsuit against their athlete daughter, accusing her of defaming them with false statements and allegations.

The complaint, naming Tianna Madison and her husband, John Bartoletta, as defendants, states that since March of this year, the couple has repeatedly made or had published false and defamatory statements about the Madisons to various third parties, including media outlets in Ohio and Florida.

The lawsuit details allegations that Tianna Madison wrongly alleged that her parents mismanaged her finances, and that they knowingly allowed a boy who had molested her in the past to enter their home in her presence.

Tiana and her husband are refusing to comment on the suit publicly because according to Brian Butler, a spokesman for the couple:

“This should be a time for not just Tianna, but her family to celebrate all she has gone through and her winning a gold medal,” he said. “That is what she is going to focus on at this time and, I think, she is trying to take some time to enjoy the fact that she won an Olympic gold medal.”

Despite “boilerplate language” in the civil suit asking for compensatory damages in excess of $25,000 and punitive damages in excess of $25,000 plus court costs and fees, Tianna’s parents insist they didn’t file the action for financial gain. Their attorney, Scott Schooler, said the lawsuit is a means to get their daughter’s attention and hopefully one day reconcile with her.

“It was a wake-up call for Tianna to really look at the entire situation and look at what exactly is going on,” he said. “Hopefully, she will realize there is some importance in having a relationship with her parents.”

“[The Madison's] are not seeking any financial gain. At the end of the day, they would like to restore their relationship with their daughter. Beyond that, I am not going to comment on the parameters of any possible resolution.”

Tianna’s parents no doubt also seek to clear their name by taking such a bold legal action against their own daughter, otherwise this is a matter that could have been handled privately. They maintain, however, that they had no knowledge of their daughter ever being molested, until they got word that she and her husband were shopping a pre-written article about her upbringing to several media outlets. It was around that time they also found out their daughter was planning to sue them for mismanaging finances, which actually never happened. Tianna also allegedly sent a text message to her parents Aug. 11 telling  them that after the Olympic games,  “she would ‘break the story’ of the Madisons’ ‘selfish, controlling and utterly abusive ways and treatment’ of her, and that ‘it was going to be brutal.’ ’’ The Madison’s countered those accusations with this statement about their daughter’s upbringing in the lawsuit:

“Throughout her childhood, and into adulthood, Robert Madison and Jo Ann Madison have provided Tianna Madison with a loving, supportive and generous environment, that has enabled her to achieve success as a sprinter, including her obtaining a gold medal in the 2012 Olympic Games, as well as achieving success in other athletic endeavors.”

I can’t say who’s telling the truth here, but some things definitely don’t appear to be adding up in this case. What do you think about this situation and the Madison’s suing their daughter?

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