Will Dan Wootton Get Sued?

The Sun’s deeply unpleasant “executive editor” Dan Wootton has reached another milestone in his less than stellar career: he has once again been called upon to ask a question during the daily 10 Downing Street briefing. But while he may have briefly basked in the adulation of, er, very few people actually, he may also have been realising that recreating reality to suit his target audience can have its problems.

Wootton’s potential problem stems from his being given a berth on Murdoch-owned TalkRADIO, which may have a reach that hardly breaks out of the media noise floor, but is still subjected to regulation by Ofcom. And Ofcom is actually independent, unlike press non-regulator IPSO, which the Murdoch goons can easily bend to their will.

What may land Wootton in hot water is the age-old tabloid trick of smearing someone who is believed to not have the means to defend themselves. His chosen subject, as with so many Murdoch goons, was The Adoration Of The Boris. His chosen target was author and screenwriter (and Celebrity Masterchef Champion!) Emma Kennedy.

“Deranged Boris hater Emma Kennedy wrote of five possible reasons he was missing PMQs and asked for Twitter users to speculate” proclaimed the TalkRADIO Twitter feed. The only problem was that Ms Kennedy deleted that Tweet before the announcement of Bozo and Carrie’s new arrival, about which Wootton was pontificating.

So she bit back. “I have made an urgent complaint to your station and you should be aware that re-publishing this is also an act of defamation. Please delete and issue an apology”. A defiant Wootton replied “No”, to which Ms Kennedy confirmed “OK. Matter will be taken further”. So how much further was she prepared to take it?

Well, potentially quite a bit further, as her post-1700 hours statement makes clear. “I’m now going to issue a statement. I have, today, taken advice from Carter Ruck who have advised me I have valid grounds for complaint against Dan Wootton, The Sun and Talk Radio”. Carter Ruck. That means any action could be expensive.

Although she might not press the nuclear button. Not yet. “When I was a lawyer I used to advise people never to sue unless they were prepared to think about the person they were suing every day for 18 months. Readers, he’s not fucking worth it. BUT”. Do go on.

“I want to make a few things clear. I don’t really care about him calling me deranged. he can call me every fucking name under the sun. I don’t care about his opinions. He can have as many as he likes. What I care about is distorting the truth … Dan Wootton has his own agenda. I’ve complained to Talk Radio and I’ve reported the matter to OFCOM. Opine away, Dan. Distort? Nah mate. And that is the last I’m saying on the matter”.

All of which suggests that the matter is not yet closed. If TalkRADIO fails to engage with her complaint, and Ofcom does likewise, the option of Carter Ruck remains on the table.

Emma Kennedy may not, right now, be itching to take Dan Wootton to the cleaners. But rather a lot of observers are willing her to do just that. What a popular chap he is.

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