Todd and Tyler Unauthorized Forums

lilyvon schtupp

she's lost her sense of hurmor
Carol Burnett v. "Family Guy"

Comedian sues over porn shop spoof of beloved charwoman character

__________________
"We will NOT allow you to blaspheme The Monkees on this show!"- Todd

lilyvon schtupp

Larry Flynt made a fortune and contributed to the rise of the sexual revolution in America through publication of Hustler magazine. While Hustler has always been known for its explicit, even gynecological pictures of nude women and its crude humor, the prominent fundamentalist Protestant minister Jerry Falwell found nothing funny about a 1983 parody featuring him. In a parody of a magazine advertisement for a popular alcoholic drink, Hustler described a drunk Falwell having an incestuous encounter with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued Flynt, alleging libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The parody ad at issue in the case


The satire in question was a fake advertisement, parodying a real advertising campaign for Campari, an Italian apéritif. The real ads were tongue-in-cheek interviews with celebrities talking about their “first time.” The ads played off a double entendre, with the headline (“X talks about his first time”) and the interview first sounding like a discussion of the star’s first sexual experience, then revealing that the discussion was about their first time trying Campari.
The Hustler parody featured a picture of Falwell, and an "interview" in which "Falwell" describes his first sexual experience as occurring “with Mom” in an outhouse while both were "drunk off our God-fearing asses on Campari." In the spoof interview, "Falwell" goes on to say that he was so intoxicated that "Mom looked better than a Baptist whore with a $100 donation," that he decided to have sex with his mother since she had "showed all the other guys in town such a good time," and that they had intercourse regularly afterwards. Finally, when asked if he had tried Campari since, "Falwell" answered, "I always get sloshed before I go out to the pulpit. You don’t think I could lay down all that bullshit sober, do you?" The ad carried a disclaimer in small print at the bottom of the page, reading "ad parody -- not to be taken seriously." The magazine's table of contents also listed the ad as "Fiction; Ad and Personality Parody."
A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia found the parody did not amount to libel. This was in part because New York Times v. Sullivan set a very high standard -- "actual malice" -- for libel against "public figures," such as politicians and celebrities. Moreover, libel pertains to a false statement of fact, while the jury found that the ad "was not reasonably believable." The jury was not convinced that a typical person reading the satire would have thought that Jerry Falwell really did make the statements in question or have sex with his mother in an outhouse. Nonetheless, the jury returned $150,000 in damages for Falwell on the basis that Flynt had intentionally inflicted "emotional distress" on Falwell. Flynt decided to appeal.
Flynt's lawyer argued that it was just too easy to prove that a satirist intended to emotionally distress his target. If the Supreme Court accepted that standard, then it would make it very easy for public figures to win damages from satirists. This would have a chilling effect on satire, as cartoonists and comedians would have to worry that they didn't hurt anyone's feelings too badly.

__________________
"We will NOT allow you to blaspheme The Monkees on this show!"- Todd

lilyvon schtupp

don't fuck with disney

__________________
"We will NOT allow you to blaspheme The Monkees on this show!"- Todd

Flounder

Can Carol Burnett really win this lawsuit? Because of this episode of Family Guy more people now know who she is after being out of the public spotlight for so many years. I saw a short clip of this episode and thought it was pretty good.

lilyvon schtupp

if i remember rightly
wasn't half the skits on her show
parodies of movies?

__________________
"We will NOT allow you to blaspheme The Monkees on this show!"- Todd