Elon Musk wins defamation trial sparked by 'pedo guy' tweet

LOS ANGELES -- Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk gained a stunning legal victory on Friday as a federal court jury swiftly rejected the $190 million defamation claim brought by a British cave explorer who Musk had branded a "pedo guy" on Twitter.

The unanimous verdict by a jury of 5 women and 3 men was returned after about 45 minutes of deliberation on the fourth day of Musk's trial, which was closely watched by legal experts because it is believed to be the first major defamation lawsuit by a private individual to go to trial over tweets.

Musk, 48, who had testified during the first 2 days of the trial in his own defense and returned to court on Friday to hear closing arguments from the two sides, exited the courtroom after the verdict and said: "My faith in humanity is restored."

Outside the courthouse, cave explorer Vernon Unsworth told a throng of reporters he was resigned to his defeat. "I accept the jury's verdict, take it on the chin and get on with my life."

The case stems from a public quarrel between Musk and Unsworth, who gained fame for his leading role in coordinating the successful rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand in July 2018.

Unsworth, 64 had chided Musk in a CNN interview for delivering a mini-submarine, which was never used, to the site of the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system. Unsworth called Musk's intervention a "PR" stunt and said the high-tech entrepreneur should "stick his submarine where it hurts."

Musk responded two days later on Twitter with three posts that became the basis of the defamation case. The first questioned Unsworth's role in the rescue, while the second said, "Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it," using a slang term of pedophile.

The third tweet, in reply to a follower who asked Musk about the second tweet, said, "Bet ya a signed dollar it's true."

In closing arguments on Friday, Unsworth's lead attorney, L. Lin Wood, summed up his case by castigating Musk as a "billionaire bully" who had "dropped a nuclear bomb" on Unsworth in his Twitter blast.

Wood said Musk's "pedo guy" remark was a slur that would overshadow Unsworth's relationships and job prospects for years to come and urged jurors to teach the Tesla chief executive and SpaceX founder a lesson by awarding Unsworth $190 million, including $150 million in punitive damages.

Two days earlier, under questioning on the witness stand, Musk had estimated his net worth at $20 billion.

But the jury was apparently swayed by the arguments put forth by Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro, who said the tweets in question arose from an argument between two men and amounted to an off-hand insult that no one could be expected to take seriously.

"In arguments you insult people," he said. "There is no bomb. No bomb went off."

Spiro also said Unsworth failed to demonstrate that he suffered any harm from Musk's comments, which the South African-born businessman apologized for in court earlier in the week.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Louis Vuitton drop Michael Jackson clothes from new collection

PARIS - Louis Vuitton said Thursday they were pulling Michael Jackson-themed clothes from a new collection in the wake of the "Leaving Neverland" documentary which revived claims that the singer sexually abused children.

The brand's men's autumn winter collection, designed by the label's American designer Virgil Abloh, was designed as a homage to Jackson's "prodigious talent".

It was shown at Paris fashion week in January on a spectacular set inspired by his "Billie Jean" video.

Abloh -- one of fashion's brightest new stars -- penned a long tribute to Jackson in his notes for the show and posted a poem he wrote about him to his 3.4 million Instagram followers.

He called the singer a "universally relatable marvel. Every person on Earth could mirror themselves in him".

But the world's richest brand said Thursday that it would not now make any piece from the collection "that directly features Michael Jackson elements".

"I am aware that in light of this documentary the show has caused emotional reactions," Abloh told the Women's Wear Daily (WWD), the fashion industry's house journal. 

"I strictly condemn any form of child abuse, violence or infringement against any human rights," he added. 

'Troubling and disturbing'

The collection, only Abloh's second for Vuitton, featured a black T-shirt printed with Jackson's trademark shoes and white socks as well as takes on the legendary 3-zip red jacket worn by the late singer in the video for his megahit "Beat It".

The invitation to the show was a sparkly Michael Jackson white glove, several variations of which also made the catwalk.

The collection also included a string of looks inspired by "The Wiz", the 1978 all-black musical version of "The Wizard of Oz" in which Jackson starred.

The flag of the singer's home state, Indiana, was also emblazoned on one of Abloh's coats.

The clothes were not meant to go on sale until later this year.

The label said that "Leaving Neverland", which features 2 men who claimed Jackson sexually abused them for years, had caused the French fashion house "the greatest pain".

"We find the allegations in the documentary deeply troubling and disturbing," it added in a statement issued to WWD but which it refused to release to AFP.

"Leaving Neverland" has broken streaming records in Britain and prompted radio stations from Australia to Canada to drop Jackson's music from their playlists.

The creators of "The Simpsons" also shelved one of the animated series' classic episodes because it features Michael Jackson's voice.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Bishops face sack for child abuse 'negligence': pope

VATICAN CITY - Catholic bishops guilty of negligence in child abuse cases can now be dismissed from office, Pope Francis said Saturday in a move hiking pressure on the Church's hierarchy.

The move was announced just two weeks after the pope came under fire for meeting a top French cardinal accused of covering up for a paedophile priest in a scandal that has shaken France's Catholic Church.

The decision, which will also apply to other senior Church officials, was unveiled in a papal decree which said such cases would now fall under existing canon law allowing for prelates to be sacked for "serious reasons".

"The Church, like a loving mother, loves all her children, but treats and protects with special affection the smallest and most helpless," the papal decree said.

Pope Francis came to power promising a crackdown on cover-ups and a zero tolerance approach to abuse itself, but victims' groups have expressed discontent with his record on ridding the Church of the taint of paedophilia.

Known as an Apostolic letter, the text stresses the need for "special diligence" in caring for minors and vulnerable adults, with those who demonstrate negligence in tackling cases of abuse facing the threat of dismissal.

That diligence is required even "without grave moral culpability" on the part of the bishop involved, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said in an explanatory statement.

"For removal from office, in the case of abuse of minors, it is 'sufficient for the lack of diligence to be grave' while in other cases a 'very grave' lack of diligence must be demonstrated," he added.

A "college of legal experts" -- cardinals and bishops -- has been set up to assist the pope reach a decision arriving at a definitive decision in a particular case.

The new approach will take effect from September 5, Lombardi said.

- The Barbarin case -

A string of historic paedophilia cases in North America and Europe has unleashed widespread criticism of the Catholic hierarchy, including allegations that in some cases bishops were aware of sexual predators among the priesthood but failed to curb them.

Last month, Francis held a surprise meeting with French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the under-fire Archbishop of Lyon who is suspected of covering up for a pedophile priest.

The meeting came just days after the pope was quoted as saying it would be "nonsensical and imprudent" to seek Barbarin's resignation at this stage.

It was not immediately clear whether the papal decree would impact on the Barbarin case.

French examining magistrates are currently carrying out two preliminary investigations to decide whether to pursue charges against the archbishop for his handling of the allegations against Bernard Preynat, a priest in his diocese who has been charged with sex abuse.

Police this week raided the offices of Nicolas de Boccard, a clerical judicial adviser to the Lyon diocese, sources close to the case said Saturday.

Barbarin will be questioned by shortly, the sources told AFP.

- 'Sceptical' -

A US group representing victims of paedophile priests suggested that the Vatican's initiative on Saturday sought to put a brake on efforts to stop abusers and bring them to justice.

"We're extraordinarily sceptical," David Clohessy, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement.

"Popes and bishops have long had the power, but not the will, to oust those who protect predators and endanger kids. They refuse to do this, and the consequences are devastating," Clohessy said.

"When it's advantageous to move quickly, Catholic officials move quickly. When they want to move slowly, or not at all, they set up commissions and 'processes' and the like."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Vatican recalls envoy over pedophilia accusations

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has recalled its ambassador to the Dominican Republic and relieved him of his duties pending an investigation, after local media accused him of pedophilia, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church said on Wednesday.

The Dominican Attorney General later announced that a special prosecutor had been appointed to investigate Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, who has been nuncio, or ambassador, in the capital Santo Domingo for nearly six years.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Holy See had started a probe of Wesolowski and that he had been recalled "in the last few weeks," specifically over the pedophilia accusations.

"He has been relieved of his duties and the Holy See has begun an investigation," Lombardi said when asked about allegations against Wesolowski in the local media.

Wesolowski could not be reached for comment.

Weeks after his election in March as the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years, Pope Francis announced he wanted the church to root out sexual abuse of children by priests and ensure that abusers are punished.

Monsignor Agripino Núñez Collado, a church official in the Caribbean nation, told reporters the Vatican acted as soon as the pope had been informed of Wesolowski's alleged "missteps."

He said Wesolowski faces possible punishment by the Vatican but may be immune from prosecution in the Dominican Republic because a nuncio has diplomatic status.

Dominican Attorney General Francisco Domínguez Brito told reporters the investigation would take into account national and international law, "given his status as a diplomat."

The prosecutor for the Santo Domingo district, Yeni Berenice Reynoso, said the probe was triggered by accusations broadcast on Monday by two local TV channels.

She said Wesolowski "must be investigated and punished in the (Dominican Republic) and not in the Holy See."

Wesolowski's whereabouts are unknown. Local media reports say he left the country in early August.

He is the second Polish priest in the Dominican Republic to be accused of child sex abuse this year.

Dominican authorities are also investigating Wojciech Gil, who was suspended by his religious order in the rural parish of Juncalito in May after local residents accused him of molesting altar boys, according to the church.

Gil was on vacation in Poland when he was suspended, the church said. It is not known if he returned to the Dominican Republic. He could not be reached for comment.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pedophilia cases of clerics declining in number — Vatican prosecutor

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's top anti-abuse prosecutor said Thursday that the number of reported pedophilia cases involving clerics was "declining" but had reached "alarming" levels in the rest of society.

Maltese bishop Charles Scicluna of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also said that a major international conference on the abuse scandals in Rome next week showed the Church's willingness to respond "with determination".

Speaking in an interview with the Italian website Vatican Insider, Scicluna said: "In churches where a code of silence was imposed for a long time, the number of reported cases reached a peak and is now gradually declining."

"The recent data on a global level... in civil society is truly alarming," said the Vatican's "Promoter of Justice", a type of prosecutor, giving as an example the increase in cases of child abuse reported to a hotline in Italy.

Scicluna said participants at next week's conference -- including representatives of 110 national bishops' conferences and the leaders of 30 religious orders -- had been advised to meet with victims before attending.

Psychologists, experts and victims will also be taking part at the conference entitled "Towards Healing and Renewal" and hosted by the Vatican's Gregorian University, which has been under preparation since June.

The Catholic Church has been badly shaken by thousands of paedophilia scandals in Europe and the United States, many of them dating back decades.

Thousands of clergy took part in the abuse of children and the hierarchy often tried to cover up the scandals by simply transferring guilty priests. — Agence France Presse

source:gmanetwork.com