Famed courtroom television personality Judge Judy has 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 were murdered.
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 parole for gunning down their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the study of the family’s Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
The brothers, both in their fifties, were convicted in a 1996 trial of the double murder.
Last month, In Touch Weekly, an American tabloid with 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 were murdered.’ .
Legendary TV judge Judy Sheindlin is suing the National Enquirer’s parent company for defamation after claiming she is on a mission to save the Menendez brothers.
Erik, now 53, and his brother Lyle, 56, are serving life in prison without parole for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 in the study of their Beverly Hills mansion.
Versions of the story were later published elsewhere, including, according to the lawsuit, in the National Enquirer, which published its covers, ‘True Crime! Judge Judy’s FIGHT FOR LYLE AND ERIK!’
The article itself was headlined: ‘Nonsense! Judge Judy at Warpath to save the Menendez brothers.’
The lawsuit claims that several of the publications owned by A360 Media have damaged the judge’s impeccable reputation, which she has worked for six decades to establish.
“In one fell swoop, Judge Sheindlin’s life-long reputation has been dealt a severe blow in the form of a narrative filled with ‘facts’ that reduce her to a boor, a fool, or worse,” the statement reads. demand.
“The defendants were motivated by a desire to generate more headlines, a larger audience, and more advertising revenue through the inclusion of Judge Sheindlin, despite the lack of any basis for doing so.”
In a statement to DailyMail.com on Monday, Sheindlin said of the need for the lawsuit: “When you fabricate stories about me to make money without regard to the truth or the reputation I’ve cultivated my entire life, it’s going to cost you. .
‘When you’ve done it several times, it’s excessive and will be expensive. It has to be expensive for you to stop doing it.’
Judge Judy Sheindlin is represented by attorney Eric George. She is asking for an unspecified amount in damages, but “which exceeds the minimum jurisdictional limits of this Court.”
The judge and her lawyers have also demanded a quick jury trial.
The lawsuit will likely put the American media company’s journalism practices under a magnifying glass, which could be a boon for Sheindlin and his team given that former A360 Media president and CEO David Pecker went on record, according to the lawsuit. that: “Making up stories and obsessing over ratings are par for the course at the National Enquirer.”
David Parry, president and CEO of Accelerate360, is involved in the lawsuit
“In one fell swoop, Judge Sheindlin’s life-long reputation has been dealt a severe blow in the form of a narrative filled with ‘facts’ that reduce her to an idiot, a fool, or worse,” the statement reads. demand.
In testimony to the National Enquirer, Pecker admitted that the publication, in 2016, entirely fabricated a story about Sen. Ted Cruz’s father appearing in a photograph with Lee Harvey Oswald, a story referenced on the Internet to this day. today.
Additionally, Sheindlin’s lawsuit claims that this would not be the first time the National Enquirer has seriously falsified information about her.
In 2017, the publication published a retraction that stated the following:
‘The National ENQUIRER and its sister publication The National Examiner recently published articles claiming that Judge Judy Sheindlin suffered from a ‘brain disease,’ was ‘battling’ both Alzheimer’s and depression, and was ‘hiding a heartbreaking medical crisis.’ .
‘We also published articles claiming that Judge Judy cheated on her husband and that her daughter Nicole Sheindlin was facing jail time for refusing to serve on a jury. None of these claims are true and we unequivocally retract them.”
The Menendez brothers are currently hoping that new evidence will reopen their case and allow them to walk free after decades in prison.
Judge Judy Sheindlin was identified by multiple outlets as a supporter of the brothers’ effort to reopen their case.
Details of the lawsuit, which was filed in 20th Judicial Circuit Court, reveal that Sheindlin and his attorneys have specifically identified a number of cases in which the defendant publications credited Sheindlin for things he never said and claims he never made.
Some of those listed in the lawsuit include the claim that “Lyle and Erik Menendez” gained a powerful ally in their quest for a new trial: Judge Judy Sheindlin.”
The publications also alleged that Judge Sheindlin said in a FOX Nation docuseries that “the proceedings that imprisoned the brothers were ‘rigged.'”
Additionally, the former TV judge says the media reported that she ‘begged Leslie Abramson, the defendant’s defense attorney, to demand that Weisberg recuse himself in favor of a new trial judge.’
The lawsuit claims that, among other things, the defendants ‘cited wholly incorrect source material, which had properly identified the true speaker of the disputed statements by a name other than Judy Sheindlin.’