Famed courtroom TV personality Judge Judy has sued the parent company of the National Enquirer over a ‘fabricated’ claim that she was on a personal mission to save the Menendez brothers some 35 years after the murder of their parents.
Accelerate360 and A360 Media are listed as the defendants in a suit, seen by DailyMail.com, which was filed on behalf of Judy Sheindlin in Collier County, Florida.
Lyle and Erik Menendez are currently in jail serving a sentence of life without parole for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the den of the family’s Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
The brothers, now both in their fifties, were convicted at trial in 1996 for 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’ Murder.
Legendary TV Judge Judy Sheindlin has sued the National Enquirer’s parent company for defamation of character after they claimed she’s on a mission to save the Menendez brothers
Erik, now 53, and his brother Lyle, 56, are serving life without parole for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion
Versions of the story were subsequently published elsewhere, including, according to the suit, in the National Enquirer, which published on their front pages, ‘True crime! Judge Judy’s FIGHT FOR LYLE & ERIK!’
The article itself was headlined: ‘BALONEY! Judge Judy on Warpath to save Menéndez bros.’
The suit claims that several of the publications owned by A360 Media have damaged the judge’s pristine reputation, which she’s worked for six decades to establish.
‘In one fell swoop, Judge Sheindlin’s lifetime-cultivated reputation has taken a body blow in the form of an account replete with “facts” diminishing her to a rube, a fool – or worse,’ claims the suit.
‘Defendants were motivated by a desire to generate more headlines, a bigger audience, and more ad revenue through the inclusion of Judge Sheindlin, despite the lack of any basis for doing so.’
Judge Judy Sheindlin is being represented by attorney Eric George. She is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, but one ‘in excess of the minimum jurisdictional limits of this Court.’
The judge and her attorneys have additionally demanded a speedy trial by jury.
The suit will likely place the American media company’s journalistic practices under a magnifying glass, which could be a boon for Sheindlin and her team given that, according to the suit, former chairman and CEO of A360 Media David Pecker has gone on the record saying:
‘Making up stories and obsessing with ratings are par for the course for the National Enquirer.’
David Pecker, the former chairman and CEO of A360 Media, ‘making up stories and obsessing with ratings are par for the course for the National Enquirer,’ according to the suit
In testimony about the National Enquirer, Pecker admitted that the publication, in 2016, made up entirely a story about Senator Ted Cruz’s father appearing in a photograph with Lee Harvey Oswald – a story referenced across the internet to this day.
Furthermore, Sheindlin’s suit claims that this would not be the first time the National Enquirer has seriously fabricated information about her.
In 2017, the publication posted a retraction that read as follows:
‘The National ENQUIRER and sister publication The National Examiner recently published articles which stated that Judge Judy Sheindlin suffered from “brain disease,” was “fighting” both Alzheimer’s and depression, and is “hiding a heartbreaking medical crisis.”
‘We also published articles which stated that Judge Judy cheated on her husband, and that her daughter Nicole Sheindlin faced jail time for refusing to serve on a jury. None of these statements are true, and we unequivocally retract them.’