Clearly, I’ve been out of my jurisdiction by making uninformed predictions about Michael Broadbent’s libel lawsuit against Random House, which the legendary wine critic has recently won. I’ve just received a comment from Bartholomew Broadbent, the founder of Broadbent Selections and the son of the plaintiff, which outlines the press release regarding this recently settled legal case. In previous comments on this blog, the younger Broadbent was confident that his father would prevail in court, especially since British libel law is much different than American libel law.
Well, it turns out he was exactly right, and British law favored the elder Broadbent, who received an undisclosed settlement for his portrayal in Benjamin Wallace’s bestselling Random House novel, “The Billionaire’s Vinegar.” The venerable wine guru also received a public apology from Random House, which I might assume was the true objective of the lawsuit, more so than the monetary settlement. Anyhow, I’ll just take this news as a sign that I should keep my nose in a nice glass of Cabernet, and out of heady legal matters, especially those happening across the pond.
