After nearly a decade of dealing with African Celebrities, I’ve come to realize that despite the strict legal requirements that must be satisfied to establish defamation (both libel and slander), our African Celebrities just throw into the air ‘Defamation’ when they’ve not been defamed and have no case—legally.
From my experience, it is obvious that our Celebrities think publications which are not favourable to them, expose them, undermine their status or attack their actions/personality fit the box of defamation, even if the writer is merely expression an opinion or honestly believed his publication to be true.
In the ordinary world, it’s easy to establish defamation compared to when the subject concerned is a celebrity (public figure). Therefore, what may be defamation when slapped on the face of the ordinary man next door may not be defamation when said about a celebrity…
What is defamation at all?
According to the English case of Sim v Stretch, defamation is a false statement of fact that exposes a person to hatred, ridicule, contempt or which tends to lower him in the esteem of right thinking persons of society.
Based on the above, statements that are merely offensive, such as, Nadia Buari smells badly will not be sufficient to be termed as defamatory.