A popular television show a few years ago was Hells Kitchen, where Chef Gordon Ramsey would help a struggling restaurant return to glory. Most of the filming took place in England, within English restaurants.Ramsey would overhaul the restaurant, from cleanliness to the menu and even the staff. The show proved to be very successful with Ramsey’s fiery attitude and heated temper keeping viewers entertained. The Evening Standard Newspaper however, believed that the action on the show was an extreme exaggeration, making the restaurants seem to be health hazards when in fact there isn’t a problem at all.
Chef Gordon Ramsey took exception to this article and claimed that the show wasn’t fake and that the producers hadn’t created problems to be solved. Ramsey’s lawyer, Keith Schilling filled the libel action against the paper shortly after the article was printed. Gordon demanded the paper admitt that the claims were false and issue an apology to the program.
The case went to Londons High Court and has since been settled. The judge decided that the Newspaper didn’t have sufficient evidence to support their claims, therefor ruling in Ramsey’s favor. The Evening Standard Newspaper accepted that the claims were untrue, and printed an apology article.
I believe that the court was correct in its ruling, and issued a fair punishment to the Newspaper. Newspapers have to be held responsible for their stories and shouldn’t print anything they can’t back up with facts, or risk paying the consequences. Writing stories that are blind, and filled with lies that hurts someones appearance in the public eye is considered libel and is a crime. Newspapers should be held accountable and shouldn’t get away with libel that hurts anyones.
