Scarlett Johansson wins defamation case against French novelist

Scarlett Johansson walks into a garage in northern France, and young mechanic Arthur Dreyfuss, who has never had much success with women, is smitten.

For French writer Grégoire Delacourt this was intended to be a mildly amusing scene in his new novel. The Johansson character turns out to be a French model and Johansson lookalike. It was, said the best-selling author, fiction; but unlike the usual literary caveat, physical similarities with those living were entirely deliberate and meant to be flattering.

Johansson, however, was not amused. The star of Lost in Translation and The Girl With the Pearl Earring sued Delacourt for making false claims about her private life: the fictional character who was not really Scarlett Johansson had two affairs that the real Johansson never had. It was, she said, defamatory – and a French judge agreed. However, the court threw out her argument that the book – La Première Chose Qu'on Regarde (The First Thing You Look At), which has sold more than 100,000 copies and been translated into several languages – "fraudulently exploited her name, her image and her celebrity" and should not be translated or made into a film, as planned. Instead of the €50,000 in damages Johansson claimed, the court awarded her just €2,500, plus €2,500 in legal costs, saying she had already talked about her private life in interviews.

Emmanuelle Allibert of the publishers J-C Lattès said they and Delacourt were happy with the judgment. "All of Scarlett Johansson's demands were rejected except one thing that was seen to be an attack in her private life over two relations that she never had. Allibert said Delacourt, whose previous novel, My List of Desires, was translated into 47 languages, did not wish to comment on the court's decision. He had earlier explained that he chose to use Johansson as the model for his protagonist because she is "the archetype of beauty today". He added that had he known Johansson would kick up such a fuss, he would have chosen someone else as his icon of modern-day beauty. "I thought she might send me flowers as the book was a declaration of love for her, but she didn't understand it at all," he said. "It's a strange paradox – but a very American one."

Colby v Big Burger

Plaintiff Colby was fired by his/her employer Defendant Big Burger, Inc., a fast food restaurant. Another employee reported to Manager Kim Dorney that Colby called a customer a “scum bag” in a disagreement with a customer. Dorney, who actually fired Colby, did not witness the exchange between Colby and the customer. Colby denies calling the customer anything and says the customer used the quoted expression. Each party has one other witness to the incident and each of them supports the party calling him or her. There is also evidence of the amount of plaintiff’s lost wages.