Not a Defamatory 'Evel': Famous daredevil Evel Knievel had his lawsuit against ESPN thrown out by a federal appeals court yesterday. Knievel and his wife had sued ESPN for defamation stemming from a caption to a picture posted on its website (which has since been taken down). The picture, of Knievel and his wife, had a caption that read: "Evel Knievel proves that you're never too old to be a pimp."



Knievel took offense to this, claiming it damaged their reputations because it implied the couple was involved in illegal prostitution. The appeals court disagreed, stating that the caption and other related material was humorous and in no way intended to be taken as factual. In fact, the court looked surprisingly up with modern slang in its analysis.

The same reasoning applies in this case. Although the word “pimp” may be reasonably capable of a defamatory meaning when read in isolation, we agree with the district court’s assessment that “the term loses its meaning when considered in the context presented here.” As discussed in more detail herein, the term “pimp” as used on the EXPN.com website was not intended as a criminal accusation, nor was it reasonably susceptible to such a literal interpretation. Ironically, it was most likely intended as a compliment.

I think the law clerks might have had something to do with this interpretation, although the judge looks like a pretty hip guy.



In any case, the court felt the First Amendment protected the speech, as it should. This was clearly intended to be humorous and satirical. No reasonable person would take the caption to imply that Knievel was pimping his wife. After all, she's not that good looking.



Hat Tip: Prof. Andre Smith

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