David Beckham sent legal warnings to Bauer Media before In Touch magazine was published. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
David Beckham is to demand a front-page retraction from US celebrity gossip magazine In Touch over allegations that he slept with a prostitute.
Beckham is understood to be planning legal action against the Bauer Media-owned title for defamation and slander. His lawyers will demand that the magazine does not repeat the allegations and prints a retraction on its front page.
The legal action is believed to be imminent, with the documents still awaiting Beckham's signature. His representative sent legal warnings to Bauer before the magazine was published warning that if the allegations were made in print, he would take legal action.
The former England football captain is planning to launch lawsuits for malice in the US and for defamation and slander in Germany, where the magazine is also published.
Beckham, who is represented by London law firm Harbottle & Lewis and in the US by Bert Deixler, is restricted in the territories he can take legal action because the allegations were not published on the In Touch website outside the US. However, the claims have been widely reported in UK newspapers today.
Beckham's representatives are also looking to take legal action against the woman at the centre of the allegations, Irma Nici, who describes herself on her website as the "world's most sought-after call girl".
"The allegations that have been made are completely untrue and totally ridiculous as the magazine was clearly told before publication," said a spokesman for Beckham, who is married to the former Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham.
"Sadly we live in a world where a magazine can print lies and believe they can get away with it. We are taking legal action against the magazine."
A Bauer Media spokesman declined to comment.
Source : Guardian UK
0 comments:
Post a Comment