The US celebrity magazine is reportedly being sued for more than £30 million ($50 million) by the actress Katie Holmes, who claims that it ran a cover story that insinuated she was a drug addict.
The lawsuit, filed in a Los Angeles federal court, focuses on a January edition of the magazine in which a tired-looking Holmes is pictured with the headline “Addiction Nightmare. Katie Drug Shocker!”
Although the story inside the magazine does not specifically state Holmes is a drug user, instead talking about Holmes’ alleged counselling sessions in the Church of Scientology and how she is “trapped in a cycle of addictive treatments”, lawyers for the actress still claim that the magazine’s cover is misleading. Holmes’ attorney Bert Fields released a statement about the case, in which he said:
“Star Magazine’s malicious claims about Katie are untrue, unethical and unlawful. Not only do they cruelly defame Katie, they play a cheap trick on the public, making ridiculously false claims on the cover unsupported by anything inside,”
Holmes is reportedly seeking $50 million in damages from Star and its publishers, who will presumably have professional indemnity insurance in place should they lose the case.