Katie Hopkins is a British reality show mom who first rose to fame when she fat-shamed Kelly Clarkson (“Ultimately, Kelly Clarkson is a chunky monkey”). Known for her incisive and often offensive comments about women’s bodies, bad baby names, and celebrities with poor parenting skills, the culture critic and MailOnline columnist recently underwent brain surgery to treat her epilepsy—a battle she successfully won.
More recently, Hopkins was sued for sending a tweet. She lost.
They say freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences, but in the UK, making a joke about leftist ideologues cost you thousands of dollars. Hopkins was dragged through court and ordered to pay £24,000 (about $29,200) to Guardian writer Jack Monroe after she tweeted about the writer, confusing her for another lefty journalist named Laurie Penny. This is on top of the £300,000 she has in legal fees.
In her provocative May 2015 tweet, Hopkins asked Monroe if she had “scrawled on any [war] memorials recently.”
She continued: “Vandalised [sic] the memory of those who fought for your freedom. Grandma got any more medals?”
Monroe had never done so, nor has she suggested for others to do it. In fact, Hopkins had her mixed up with Laurie Penny, who did suggest such a thing when she indicated she had no problem with vandals wrote “Fuck Tory scum” on the women’s war memorial in London during an anti-austerity protest in 2015.
Hopkins had confused the two leftist progressive writers, who often cover the same topics with similar viewpoints. She quickly realized her mistake, deleted the tweet, and issued another asking her social media audience if anyone could even tell the difference between Monroe and Penny.
That should’ve been the end of the argument, but Monroe took the insult personally and sued Hopkins for libel over the tweet. Apparently, she didn’t want to be confused with Laurie Penny.
Monroe says she offered Hopkins the chance to apologize for the offending remark and give £5,000 to charities to help migrants, or face legal action. Naturally, Hopkins declined.
Today, the court ordered Hopkins to pay £24,000 in damages for the mix-up. According The Independent, this is on top of her legal bills, which top £300,000.
The UK courts are particularly punitive when it comes to libel law. Unlike US courts (and those elsewhere), the UK puts the onus on the defendant to prove that their statements aren’t libelous or have any intended malice. In turn, this allows anyone with a litigious streak to sue someone for defamation, if they say something out of turn—even if they delete the offending remark.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
