UPDATE: TheDirty.com libel suit
The AP reported yesterday that a Cinncinnati cheerleader had won a default libel suit against the proprietor of a site called “the Dirt.com.”
The Arizona Republic reported that as a judgment against the site we all know as TheDirty.com, the place where Young Benny Quayle undertook some of his early nightlife epistolary efforts.
PHXated repeated the news (see orignal post below), even correcting the AP’s error.
Turns out the story was half right in about three different ways.
TheDirty is the site that said the cheerleader had VD. But the suit was filed against a different site, TheDirt.com, which ignored it and got a default judgment of $11 million against it. Hilarity has presumably ensued.
Politico has the story here.
It contains these entertaining passages from Eric Deters, the plaintiff’s attorney, about TheDirty.com founder and Quayle literary amanuensis Nik Richie:
“We’re still going to serve that S.O.B. personally,” Deters said of Richie. “I’m going to make that dirty, rotten, mean, vermin bastard pay. He’s a piece of dirt.”
When asked what he thought about Quayle blogging for Dirty Scottsdale, Deters – who has been following national media coverage of the political novice – called it “absolutely disgraceful.”
“He ought to be ashamed of himself,” Deters said “He’s another lying little weasel politician. That’s not slander; that is my opinion.”
Updates as they happen.
The original post:
One of the grimier things about TheDirty.com, the web site Ben Quayle wrote for and helped found, is now hateful many of its postings are.
As we’ve mentioned before, they basically come down to “she has VD.”
The practice seems to have cost the site and its founder, Hooman Karamian, who goes by the name Nik Ritchie, $11 million.
From the AP:
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A gossip website has been hit with an $11 million judgment for libel and slander after posting false accusations about a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader.
The judgment against Dirty World Entertainment Recordings, which runs the site Thedirt.com [sic], came Thursday after the site did not respond to a lawsuit brought by Sarah Jones. The high school teacher’s picture was posted on the site along with an accusation she had been exposed to two venereal diseases.
Richie is the guy who told Politico that Quayle had helped him get the site going and had written for it under the name Brock Landers.
10:40 AM
Election update!
David Lujan conceded to Felecia Rotellini in the Democratic primary for AG.
Rotellini will face either Andrew Thomas or Tom Horne in November, after the votes are counted on the GOP side, which was even closer than the Dems'.
From the Republic:
Lujan, leader of the Democratic minority in the state House, conceded to Rotellini on Twitter.
“It was a good fight,” Lujan wrote on his Twitter account. “Now, I am going to work as hard as I can to elect Felecia Rotellini as our next attorney general! Congrats Felecia!”
On the GOP side, the news is relatively promising. As Stephen Lemons puts it:
It’s not looking good for former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas. As of the end of today’s count of the remaining ballots, state Schools Superintendent Tom Horne had expanded his lead of about 400 votes from yesterday to 1,073.
The margin needs to be much narrower—only 200 votes—to warrant a recount.
There are conflicting accounts of how many ballots are outstanding—one paper said 40,000, another more than 50,000—but there are more than enough to swing the election ether way.
7:24 AM
Laurie Roberts lays out the Ben Quayle/Brock Landers story in all its porny glory
Yesterday, the Arizona Republic finally vouchsafed to its print clientele an overview of Ben Quayle’s sordid past associations with the ultraskanky web site Dirty Scottsdale.
This came after the election he was running in, but whatever.
Today Laurie Roberts, on whom we have a journalistic crush, finally limns the story the way the paper should have from the start:
So, to recap:.
He denied writing for the website, then he admitted writing for the website, saying he posted a handful of “fictional satirical comments.”
He denied that he is Brock Landers but he hasn’t denied writing under the name Brock Landers.
And he couldn’t recall whether he introduced Karamian to a lawyer for purposes of incorporating the website, but then later admitted that he hooked them up.
Now he says he’s “been consistent from the very beginning on this issue.”
7:47 AM
Jon Hulburd: I want five debates with Brock Landers!
The democratic challenger to Young Benny Quayle is Jon Hulburd.
He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The third congressonal district is solidly red, but he may have a chance given the young Quayle’s vulnerabilities.
He talks to ABC 15’s Dave Biscobing here:
“This election is now between Jon Hulburd and Brock Landers,” said a statement released by his campaign hours after the primary ended.
It’s a shot at Quayle, who’s accused of writing under the pseudonym “Brock Landers” on a racy blog called DirtyScottsdale.com a few years ago.
The statement continues: “It’s between a young man who fabricated a family, degraded women, and then tried to lie about it, and a small businessman and father of five who has been dedicated to his community. These concerns were raised by Republicans during the primary and at least 77% of Republican voters were unhappy with Ben Quayle’s response.”
Hulburd has unsuccessfully run for office in the past, but based on Quayle’s own history, political experts believe the Democrat could steal the seat in the traditionally Republican district.
And Hulburd’s campaign also isn’t waiting to further challenge Quayle, asking the GOP candidate to square off in five debates.
The video:
11:38 AM
Zen 32 is closing
The sushi mainstay at 32nd and Camelback is shutting down, owner Lenny Rosenberg tells Fox 10:
Rosenberg said he’s enjoyed serving his loyal customers sushi ‘til midnight, but will now devote his time to expanding his other restaurants, Delux and Revo Burrito.
“Due to the fact that the remodel costs have far exceeded the original budget, it did not make economic sense to go forward with the major renovations,” he said.
3:58 PM
1Report to UN condemns AZ
From the AP, at salon.com:
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer demanded Friday that a reference to the state’s controversial immigration law be removed from a State Department report to the United Nations' human rights commissioner.
The U.S. included its legal challenge to the law on a list of ways the federal government is protecting human rights.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Brewer says it is “downright offensive” that a state law would be included in the report, which was drafted as part of a UN review of human rights in all member nations every four years.
“The idea of our own American government submitting the duly enacted laws of a state of the United States to ‘review’ by the United Nations is internationalism run amok and unconstitutional,” Brewer wrote.
Not a big thing, Jan. Amnesty International has been going after Sheriff Joe since 1997, though they haven’t put you on their radar till this year. So what if the Feds finked you out to the UN? Small potatoes.
7:06 PM
TheDirty leaps to Brock Lander's defence
From PBJ:
TheDirty.com website is continuing its love-hate, publicity-driven relationship with Phoenix congressional candidate Ben Quayle, even after his Republican primary win this week.
The Dirty owner Nik Richie continues to post things about Quayle as the investment attorney takes on Democrat Jon Hulburd in the general election.
Richie’s website urged support for Quayle in the GOP primary Tuesday, as well as in the general election
“We must support Brock Landers,” reads a recent post on the site.
Richie said the exposure and The Dirty followers helped Quayle win. “All press is good press,” he told KSAZ-TV Channel 10, the local Fox affiliate.
Read more here.
7:29 PM
Hell City tomorrow
Just in from Perihelion Arts:
Hello All!
Like so many, Perihelion Arts and artist Yuko Yabuki are are devastated by the tragic effects of the oil spill
We are offering you the chance to win an original Yuko Yabuki painting – with proceeds to benefit the National Wildlife Federation and their Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund
$10 each
Yuko will also be painting live at the Biltmore Saturday, August 28, noon to night as part of the Hell City Tattoo Fest, in the Fine Art Gallery sponsored by Perihelion
7:37 PM
Bloggers aren't journalists- what are they?
A big fave of PHXated, Mediactive’s Dan Gillmor has switched homes to salon.com. Here’s his latest post:
If you’re a creator of media, and most of us are these days in one way or another, what should I call you?
Why do I ask? I’m finishing up a new book, called “Mediactive,” to be published this fall. My primary goals are to persuade people to become much more active users, not passive consumers, of media. Part of this is what we’ve traditionally called “media literacy” — among other things, applying critical thinking to what we consume. And because we are all becoming creators in the Digital Age, it also means we need to apply some basic principles so people will trust what we say (assuming we want to be trusted).
One of my dilemmas has been what to call these new trusted media creators. In the era of scarcity, when there were relatively few outlets, many of them were called “journalists.”
This isn’t only my problem, and it’s more than just semantics. Asking the question in the right way has real-world impacts. So-called shield laws, for example, aim to protect whistle-blowers and the journalists whom they tell about government or corporate wrongdoing. Some states specify who counts as a journalist, which leaves out a huge range of people who effectively practice journalism nowadays; it also encourages a pernicious, back-door licensing of journalists. The right approach, if we need shield laws at all, is to protect acts of journalism.
[…]
Do we need a new name for the modern media creators, specifically the ones who are creating information of value to communities (of geography or interest)? I’d like to find one but I confess I’m not having an easy time of it.
“Creator” has its own baggage. “Participant” and “collaborator” and “contributor” don’t seem exactly right, either.
If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Read more here.
8:03 PM
Roo Row goes rental
It was bound to happen. The dominant culture in PHX is real estate. From the latest “This Week in the Row”, the weekly email blast from arts props Roosevelt Row:
9:50 PM