With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Will Smith wins libel pay out after Hitler slur

Hollywood actor Will Smith won a public apology and damages in London's High Court Friday over a false allegation that he had described the former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as a "good person".

His lawyer Rachel Atkins told judge David Eady the "deeply distressing" libellous allegation by World Entertainment News Network Limited (WENN) had caused her client "acute embarrassment".

The claim arose after London-based WENN, which provides entertainment news and photographs around the world, published an article on December 23 last year entitled "Smith: Hitler Was A Good Person", the court was told.

Atkins said the article "wholly misrepresents" an interview her client gave to a Scottish newspaper and in fact he considered Hitler to be a "vile and heinous man".

"The allegation that he could think otherwise is deeply distressing to the claimant and has caused him acute embarrassment," she said.
Read entire article at AFP