When someone registers a domain like glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com, they probably expect to hear from Glenn Beck’s lawyers. In this case, it took two days. The site’s anonymous operator tells Ars that the whole thing is satire—but that may not be enough to avoid charges of defamation.
The controversy started a week ago in the Fark forums, where someone picked up on an old Gilbert Gottfried roast of the “comedian” (scare quotes fully intended) Bob Saget. During the roast, Gottfried repeatedly said (watch the video) that Saget had “not raped and killed a girl in 1990.” The Fark forums took the joke about the power of insinuation and applied it to right-wing talk show host Glenn “Obama is a racist” Beck.
One of the Fark readers then took the forum meme to the next level, registering a domain name and launching a web site in order to make a point about talking head TV demagoguery. “Why won’t Glenn Beck deny these allegations?” asks the site. “We’re not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990—in fact, we think he didn’t! But we can’t help but wonder, since he has failed to deny these horrible allegations. Why won’t he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?” At the very bottom of the page was a small text disclaimer saying that the site was satirical.
I spoke to the anonymous owner of the site, who tells Ars that launching it “just felt right”—it flipped the “birther” non-falsifiable conspiracy theories about Obama’s birth and citizenship around and applied the same tactics to one of the biggest talking heads (no pun intended?) on cable news. It’s just “using Beck’s tactics against him” and is a small way of “directing all this frustration” with Beck and others into action.
Read the rest of the article to learn about the legal aspects of this.
I applaud. Oh, I still say someone should kill this guy.
Wait you think someone should kill Glenn Beck because he doesn’t think the same way you do. WOW
Hmmmm…. regarding web content like this. I feel the saying “If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it…”.
By suing, the plaintiff only manages to evoke the Streisand Effect which serves to make a mountain out of a molehill.
In other words, Beck took the bait and has now managed to do the exact opposite of what he intended.
Besides the winning fact that Glen Beck is a “public figure” ((See the Falwell Case)) is it actually even possible to Defame Glen Beck? Defamation requires gaining a lower estimation of the person after reading the subject language.
Well, I for one have no lower opinion of him. Case Dismissed.
#4, So you say its ok to defame someone because you don’t agree with them, and because they don’t meet your personal standards?
This seems like a pretty cut and dry case of defamation, and I would say the same thing even if it was about Obama. It may be comedy, but when an average person cannot tell if its comedy or not (the Larry Flint case someone mentioned was a cartoon drawing I think, and it was obvious it was comedy), then you cross the line into defamation.
That being said I probably would have just ignored it. If it became popular then I might have to sue the owner into the poor house, but otherwise, its just an annoying coward who is throwing rocks and people while hiding behind the cloak of anonymity. By sueing the guy now, its just making the site more popular than it probably would have ever been
This is clearly not satire. You can’t defame someone and get off because you write a disclaimer at the bottom that it is satire. It actually has to be satire in order to invoke that defense. Glenn Beck should sue.
This seems like a pretty cut and dry case of defamation
I’m not at all sure it is clear cut. If the description of the site is correct they said they didn’t think he did this and at the bottom they said it was satire. I think a pretty strong case could be made for satire.
I don’t think we will get a legal ruling on this though because I would bet they pull the side and beck drops the issue.
#5–Bob==Falwell case: my hero Larry Flynt had an article about Jerry Falwell having sex with his mother. Kinda outrageous even though Falwell is/was a hateful bigot.
Supreme court ruled it was protected speech because Falwell was a public figure.
You are free to remain ignorant and maintain your opinions in a vacuum of context.
Should hurt, but I assume you are insensitive to new ideas.
#1, Is this what it is coming to? Disagree with me and you shall be killed? If a joke, it is a real bad one.
I have times I agree with Glenn and times I think he is wrong. But he does something much of the news media does not do. He get’s you thinking.
The liberals want to save every poor SOB out there with somebody else’s
money. Give them rebates, a place to live, food stamps and health care.
What incentive is their to get a job? What ever happened to the American way of getting by on your own? Glenn Beck may have some things wrong but he is getting people to question our governments spending habits and question things about this country. I give him credit for not blindly supporting a party and actually speaking his mind. That is more then I can say for those who just hate someone for doing so. If you do not agree with him that’s fine. Certainly his audience ratings say differently for many Americans. Glenn Beck is at least passionate about his belief which is more then I can say for some Americans.
Well, has Glenn Beck released his sealed criminal records from 1990? Did he deny his involvement in the rape and murder? No? Smoke = Fire. He’s obviously guilty…
Yes, this is exactly like the Birther’s claims – assuming there are certificates you can produce that say you have not raped nor killed anyone.
A girl wrote the site author and said she was raped in the 1990 as a young girl and it was despicable to joke about.
I hope Glenn Beck wins this case and sues the site author for every penny he is worth. This is not satire; it is clearly defamation.
#12 Chris, Glenn Beck is not a Birther.
This all comes from the “You are a Muslim. Prove to me that you are not a threat to America” question to a Muslim congressman(?) just because he is Muslim.
The same question could be posed to Jews: “Prove to me that you don’t eat children.”
So the meme turns to Glen Beck, saying “Prove to me that you are not a rapist and a murderer.”
It is a fair challenge when Beck asks stupid questions that generalize and put a whole religion in a negative light and then never has the decency to apologize.
Glen Beck makes you think? He sure does … (sigh)
Add “This website is Satire” means “There is no way this website is Satire” to the list of what you have to believe to be a republican.
Add “Nothing in this Bill shall give illegal immigrants rights to participate in government funded health care” means “This bill gives rights to illegal immigrants” to the list of what you have to believe to be a republican.
Add not willing to become informed even when direct links are provided to what is required to be a republican.
Benji!!!!
This is wrong when Beck and his ilk do it and it is wrong for this Fark guy
By lowering to there tactics you lose integrity. My issue is this was not clearly meant to be satire. Now if Beck’s show was on say Comedy Central where is belongs or if this Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl in 1990 story was on the Onion I’d be ok with it.
FWIW, the Glenn Beck wannabe called Michael “The Jewish Nazi” Savage has been dumped from his flagship station, suddenly replaced by a pair of different talking heads for no given reason.
Give it time… people will get tired of Glenn Beck’s ‘hate filled clown’ act and he will be unceremoniously dumped, but before that happens expect his antics to get even more outrageous and lie laden, since he keeps setting a lower and lower baseline, and to keep the type of public that listens to him entertained, he needs to keep lowering the quality of his commentary. After all, Beck does not do this because he loves America… he does it for one thing only: money.
#17 Bobbo said, “Add “This website is Satire” means “There is no way this website is Satire” to the list of what you have to believe to be a republican.”
Just asserting that a website is satire does not make it satire. Asserting that a birth certificate is not real does not make it any less real.
#19–Howard==”At the very bottom of the page was a small text disclaimer saying that the site was satirical.” What does an EXPRESS DECLARATION mean to you? It is after all how Fortune Tellers continue their trade. I agree its not fair, but evidently clearly saying your are for amusement only carries legal weight. Shouldn’t “This site is satirical” be the same especially given the Falwell case says you don’t even have to label it for people too stupid to understand? But too stupid to read???? You take your umbrage at the media too far.
Further, Kudo’s to #18 Olo. If you know Glen Beck well enough to have an opinion on whether or not he was defamed, then you should know this was satire.
Seems to me you nay sayers are “putting yourself” into Glen Becks shoes rather than into Glen Becks history and context. That being the case, you are simply irrelevant.
Good Job.
The site is clearly wrong. Everyone knows that Glen Beck would have raped and murdered a young boy, not a young girl.
#21–Benji==we heard you the first time. Stop hitting yourself with the stupid stick. We get it===you are a repuglican and nothing is going to educate you. WE GET IT.
But giving those of your bent who aren’t quite so gone more credit than is due==I an EXPRESS DECLARATION carries a lot of weight but is not dispositive of the legal issues. I agree. Therefore see #18 Olo.
So, in Context Benji==what could be said of Glen Beck that would lower your estimation of his humanity? Surely its not doing to Glen Beck what Glen Beck does to everyone else?
Really, that IS what lowers your respect for Glen Beck?????
Amusing.
this is a classic example of the digg nation/fark nation gone wild. i hope they get their ass sued off for this. people need to learn that the internet and your comments do sometimes have consequences. and that you are not completely anonymous….
Those of you who think this is a “cut and dry case” of anything have obviously never spent any time in a room with more than one lawyer.
Wait a second…
Since would the posters here be considered ‘public figures’? They did, after all, place their posts in a ‘public’ place.
Are we all at risk of being ‘satired’?
Typical Conservative media hypocrisy. They act like chimps and fling turds everywhere but when someone fights back they behave like they’re the most damaged, innocent girl in the universe.
Hey McCullough!
You chickenshit. Turn the comments on for your Charlie Sheen 9/11 BS. I usually chuckle at your wacky ideas, but this is too much. If you are as stupid as Sheen with respect to 9/11 that is fine, but at least give us a chance to call you on it.
And just in case you don’t turn the comments on, let me state that Anyone who actually Believes that anything about 9/11 involved US pre-planning is fucking crazy!
#2
I think he should die because I think he’s a whacko. To me, he’s a fanatic, he’s dangerous to others and to his family. I don’t like people like that, do you?
It seems many of the users don’t remember his comment about Obama having a deep hatred of the country. That was not satire either, that was and is literally ignorance. How people still listen to this fck is beyond me. But apparently millions still do. Daily show had a good epsisode about this fool. Watch it.
#30 The0ne
Ummm… so let me get this right – You think he is dangerous to others and his family because he says Obama must not like this country based on his actions and what his previous statements imply? Then you say he should die because he must be a crazy whacko if he has a different viewpoint than you?
And how exactly how do you not think you should die after you making comments like this? You are not making things good for your cause. Sort of like Joe Wilson only much worse and there are many more of you.
Should we kill everyone in mental hospitals, assuming we could get people who don’t think like you into them?