Opinion ID: 781994
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Other Michigan State Law Claims

Text: 142 Parks also appeals the district court's decision to grant summary judgment to Defendants on her state law claims for defamation and intentional interference with a business relationship. Finding no merit in either of these claims, we treat them briefly below.
143 Parks argues that the song defames her character or places her in a false light. To succeed on a defamation claim, a public figure must prove actual malice. See New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 279-80, 84 S.Ct. 710, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964). In turn, actual malice requires a showing, by clear and convincing evidence, that a defendant made a false statement with knowledge of the falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth. See Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. v. Hepps, 475 U.S. 767, 773, 106 S.Ct. 1558, 89 L.Ed.2d 783 (1986). A statement is actionable only if it states actual facts about plaintiff that are provable and false. Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1, 16-17, 19-20, 110 S.Ct. 2695, 111 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990). The song is plainly not about Parks in any biographical sense of the term, and certainly does not make any factual statements about her. As there is no factual statement about her, Parks cannot show even the first element of a defamation claim. Therefore, we find this argument meritless. 144 Parks' defamation-by-implication argument is likewise meritless. As with a traditional defamation claim, a plaintiff in a defamation-by-implication claim must establish a material falsity. See Hawkins v. Mercy Health Serv., Inc., 230 Mich.App. 315, 583 N.W.2d 725, 731-32 (1998). Parks has not done so. The mere fact that Parks' name is attached to something offensive is not enough to overcome Defendants' First Amendment rights. See Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46, 57, 108 S.Ct. 876, 99 L.Ed.2d 41 (1988) (applying the public figure defamation test to deny celebrity's intentional infliction of emotional distress claim against defendant's magazine for its depiction of him engaged in incest and alcohol abuse). We therefore agree that Defendants deserved summary judgment on this claim.
145 Parks also claims that Defendants intentionally interfered with her business relationship with the producers of the Tribute album. To make a successful claim for tortious interference with a business relationship in Michigan, Parks must show an intentional doing of a per se wrongful act or the intentional doing of a lawful act with malice and unjustified in law for the purpose of invading ... contractual rights or business relationship[s]. Chrysler Int'l Corp. v. Cherokee Exp. Co., 134 F.3d 738, 745 (6th Cir.1998) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)(applying Michigan law). This wrongful act must have hastened a contract breach or another breakdown of a business relationship. See Lakeshore Cmty. Hosp., Inc., v. Perry, 212 Mich.App. 396, 538 N.W.2d 24, 27 (1995). No such breach or breakdown occurred in this case. Parks cites dicta from Stormor v. Johnson, 587 F.Supp. 275 (W.D.Mich.1984), which suggests that Michigan might recognize a claim if a defendant's action made the plaintiff's business relationship more expensive or burdensome. Ignoring for the moment that Michigan has not clearly recognized a tort claim on such grounds, Parks has not brought forth evidence that Defendants' song Rosa Parks makes the production or promotion of the Tribute album more expensive or burdensome. Consequently, this claim must fail.