Getting into Twitter spats can be an expensive undertaking, especially once you move away from common insults and arrive at the stage of libel and defamation.
Just ask Courtney Love.
Perhaps the most famous widow in music history had a rather amusing Twitter account (CourtneyLoveUK), which has since been removed; but during its reign, Love’s feed offered a great deal of value. Whether it was stream-of-conscious rants or almost-naked pictures, Love always had something for the masses.
That is, until, she got downright nasty with fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir, blasting Simorangkir with such gems like a “asswipe nasty, lying, hosebag thief”; or “a history of dealing cocaine”; and “lost all custody of her child”; as well as being convicted of “assault and burglary.”
As a response to Love’s kind compliments, Simorangkir filed a defamation suit against the Hole lead singer, and the results of the filing are in, and let’s just say Love’s comments about Simorangkir could very well go down as one of the most expensive tweets ever.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Love has agreed to pay the fashion designer $430,000.
Apparently, representing the celebrity who’s responsible for one of the more expensive tweets ever went to the head of Love’s attorney, James Janowitz, who offered this (misguided?) reaction about how pleased he was with the ruling:
“…because of the extended payout it’s a modest settlement. They got out with an amount that left them bragging rights but nothing else.”
Simorangkir’s legal team evidently wanted a higher sum, but had to settle for almost half a million dollars. One hopes that’s enough money to salve the wounds caused by Love’s Twitter rants.