Famous television personality Judge Judy sued the National Enquirer’s parent company over a “fabricated” claim that she was on a personal mission to save the Menendez brothers some 35 years after their parents’ murder.
Accelerate360 and A360 Media are listed as defendants in a lawsuit, seen by DailyMail.com, that was filed on behalf of Judy Sheindlin in Collier County, Florida.
Lyle and Erik Menendez are currently in prison serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the den of the family’s Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
The brothers, now both in their 50s, were convicted at a 1996 trial of the double murder.
Last month, In Touch Weekly – an American tabloid owned by the same parent company as the National Enquirer – published an article titled “Inside Judge Judy’s Quest to Save the Menendez Brothers Nearly 35 Years After Their Parents’ Murder” .
Legendary TV judge Judy Sheindlin sued the parent company of the National Enquirer for defamation after claiming she was on a mission to save the Menendez brothers.
Erik, now 53, and his brother Lyle, 56, are serving life sentences without parole for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 in the den from their Beverly Hills mansion.
Versions of the story were later published elsewhere, including, according to the complaint, in the National Enquirer, which ran on its front page: “True crime!” Judge Judy’s FIGHT FOR LYLE AND ERIK!’
The article itself was titled: “Baloney! Judge Judy on Warpath to save the Menéndez brothers.’
The suit claims that several publications owned by A360 Media damaged the judge’s impeccable reputation, which she worked for six decades to establish.
“In one fell swoop, the reputation Judge Sheindlin cultivated throughout her life took a major blow in the form of a narrative filled with “facts” reducing her to the status of a fool, a fool – or worse,” the lawsuit claims.
“Defendants were motivated by a desire to generate more headlines, a larger audience, and more advertising revenue through the inclusion of Judge Sheindlin, despite lacking any basis for doing so.”
In a statement to DailyMail.com on Monday, Sheindlin said of the need for the suit:
“When you make up stories about me in order to make money without regard for the truth or the reputation I have spent my entire life cultivating, it is going to cost you. When you have done it several times, it is unacceptable and will be expensive. It has to cost a lot for you to stop.
Judge Judy Sheindlin is represented by attorney Eric George. She seeks an unspecified amount of damages, but “exceeds the minimum limits of this Court’s jurisdiction.”
The judge and her lawyers also demanded a speedy jury trial.
The lawsuit will likely place the American media company’s journalistic practices under a magnifying glass, which could be a boon for Sheindlin and his team given that, according to the lawsuit, former A360 Media Chairman and CEO David Pecker , publicly declared:
“Making up stories and obsessing over ratings are among the priorities of the National Enquirer.”
David Pecker, former chairman and CEO of A360 Media, “making up stories and obsessing over ratings are among the priorities of the National Enquirer,” according to the complaint.
In his testimony to the National Enquirer, Pecker admitted that the publication, in 2016, completely fabricated a story about Sen. Ted Cruz’s father appearing in a photo with Lee Harvey Oswald — a story referenced on the internet to this day.
Additionally, Sheindlin’s lawsuit claims this wouldn’t be the first time the National Enquirer has seriously fabricated information about her.
In 2017, the publication issued a retraction that read:
“The National ENQUIRER and its sister publication, The National Examiner, recently published articles claiming that Judge Judy Sheindlin suffered from a ‘brain disease,’ that she was ‘battling’ both Alzheimer’s disease and depression and that she was “hiding a heartbreaking medical crisis.”
“We also published articles claiming that Judge Judy cheated on her husband and that her daughter Nicole Sheindlin faced prison time for refusing to serve on a jury. Neither of these statements are true and we retract them unequivocal.
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