Case Name: Lauren Feche et al., Appellants, v. Viacom International, Inc., Doing Business as MTV Networks, et al., Respondents
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1996-11-07
Citations: 233 A.D.2d 125
Docket Number: 
Parties: Lauren Feche et al., Appellants, v Viacom International, Inc., Doing Business as MTV Networks, et al., Respondents.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 233
Pages: 125–125

Head Matter:
Lauren Feche et al., Appellants, v Viacom International, Inc., Doing Business as MTV Networks, et al., Respondents.
[649 NYS2d 782]

Opinion:
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Carol Arber, J.), entered July 17, 1995, which, inter alia, granted defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a cause of action, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
We agree with the IAS Court that the remark, "whores", made by defendant "Kennedy" during a segment produced and broadcast by the other defendants, was not " 'of and concerning' " plaintiffs, and is therefore nonactionable as libel (Springer v Viking Press, 60 NY2d 916, 917). An average viewer would not, taking into account the context in which the remark was uttered, perceive that "Kennedy" was making a factual statement about plaintiffs, but rather was indulging in hyperbole and protected opinion about the fictional characters that plaintiffs were portraying (see, Greenbelt Publ. Assn. v Bresler, 398 US 6; Immuno AG. v Moor-Jankowski, 77 NY2d 235, cert denied 500 US 954; Pring v Penthouse Intl., 695 F2d 438, cert denied 462 US 1132). Concur—Wallach, J. P., Rubin, Nardelli, Williams and Andrias, JJ.