Calling Someone Homosexual Is Not Defamation Per Se, Judge Rules in Suit by Anna Nicole Smith Lawyer
New York Law Journal

A statement that someone is a homosexual is not defamation per se in New York state, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling comes in a suit brought by Howard K. Stern, the lawyer and former lover of tabloid sensation Anna Nicole Smith. Stern claims Rita Cosby defamed him in her book "Blond Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death," with statements such as the suggestion that he had engaged in sex with the man ultimately determined to be the father of Smith's daughter, Dannielynn.

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