14 DAY TRIAL // In June this year, Leonardo DiCaprio sued a French tabloid for writing that he had gotten supposed girlfriend Rihanna pregnant and was refusing to recognize the baby as his own. In addition to printing lies, the tabloid was also in breach of France’s laws for running paparazzi photos taken of DiCaprio at the Cannes Film Festival.
DiCaprio asked to be awarded the maximum amount in damages and a full retraction and an apology. Frederic Truskolaski, one of the owners of the tab, admitted that they knew the story was false when they ran it, but insisted that the case went to court.
DiCaprio wins case against the tab
The argument used at the time was something along the lines of “we don’t know for certain that Rihanna is pregnant, but she could be and the kid might be DiCaprio’s.” Reports online claimed that the magazine could have walked away without paying damages by simply printing the retraction and the apology, but Truskolaski and his partners refused.
They’re probably sorry they did. A judge has sided with DiCaprio on this and declared he was right in taking legal action against the publication, Gossip Cop confirms.
The actor was awarded €8,000 (about $8,800) in damages and legal fees, which is considerably less than what he asked at first, but it’s not nothing. The tab is also obligated to run the retraction and the apology in a future issue, together with a full report on the case mentioning the fact that they lost.
DiCaprio is a “pervert” and a “racist”
However, Truskolaski isn’t done with the Hollywood star. In a new statement to the media on the verdict, he attacks DiCaprio once more, saying that the only reason he took the case to court is that he’s a “pervert” and a “racist.”
Admittedly, DiCaprio didn’t sue because he thought it wrong for someone to print evil lies about him, but because it bothered him that people would think he was dating Rihanna. According to his rep, they weren’t even a couple at the time this story came out, so that’s another lie on top of the others.
“DiCaprio almost systematically goes out with Aryan-type girls, always blonde hair,” Truskolaski says. “He could not stand the fact that our magazine was saying he was having a baby with a black girl.”
As of the time of writing, a publicist for DiCaprio wasn’t available for comment on the verdict and the latest round of offensive comments.