Courtney Love to pay $430,000 for Twitter defamation

The settlement will cost Love about USD 430,000. The first payment of cash is due now,followed by a series of payments to Simorangkir stretched out until 2014,the Hollywood Reporter said.

The designer and Love became involved in a dispute after Simorangkir claimed that the singer owed her USD 4000 in payment for clothing. Love posted a series of messages condemning Simorangkir,who in turn accused the Hole frontwoman of destroying her business with her defamatory posts in 2009.

In first of its kind case,Love claimed that her rantings were merely an expression of opinion and that Simorangkir could not prove how they damaged her. The fashion designer,on the other hand,pointed to Love’s influence as an entertainer and the power of social media to disseminate damaging comments.

“The amount of the settlement says it all. Her reprehensible defamatory comments were completely false and USD430,000 is quite a significant way to say I am sorry. One would hope that,given this disaster,restraint of pen,tongue and tweet would guide Ms Love’s future conduct,” Simorangkir attorney Bryan Freedman said.

Love attorney James Janowitz says he’s pleased with the deal. “Because of the extended payout it’s a modest settlement,” he added.