The 140 character defamation - punctuation included!

Twittigation: Courtney Love sued for Twitter defamation
Eriq Gardner, Reuters

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) • Twitter has become popular with celebrities. And people pretending to be celebrities.

Sometimes it's hard to figure out who's who.

Shaquille O'Neal? Yup, his Twitter account is real. That's him.

50 Cent? Not exactly. The rapper hired a guy to tweet for him.

Britney Spears? She's got a whole cadre tweeting for her. So not really.

Christopher Walken? Imposter!

Courtney Love? Oh boy is that her.

In fact, Love just won the distinction of being the first celebrity sued for tweeting.

In Los Angeles Superior Court, clothes designer Dawn Simorangkir, also known as Boudoir Queen, last Thursday filed suit against Love for defamation, invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress for "an extensive rant" on Twitter about how she was billed for custom clothing.

It's hard to be extensive when one is limited to just 140 characters. But if anybody can do it, it's Love, who allegedly wrote grammatically challenged comments like "oi vey don't f--- with my wardrobe or you will end up in a circle of corched eaeth hunted til your dead."

"Whether caused by a drug induced psychosis, a warped understanding of reality, or the belief that her money and fame allow her to disregard the law, Love has embarked (o)n what is nothing short of an obsessive and delusional crusade to terrorize and destroy Simorangkir, Simorangkir's reputation and her livelihood," says the complaint.

Love's spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)