Tuesday January 04, 2005

Ce n’est pas un Pimp

My good friend Adam — no doubt sensing from the previous post that I find the word “pimp” generally fun to be around — makes my afternoon by directing to me to the case of Knievel v. ESPN, which was decided today by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The facts are these:

Famed motorcycle stuntman Evel Knievel and his wife Krystal were photographed when they attended ESPN’s Action Sports and Music Awards in 2001. The photograph depicted Evel, who was wearing a motorcycle jacket and rose-tinted sunglasses, with his right arm around Krystal and his left arm around another young woman. ESPN published the photograph on its “extreme sports” website with a caption that read “Evel Knievel proves that you’re never too old to be a pimp.” The Knievels brought suit against ESPN in state court, contending that the photograph and caption were defamatory because they accused Evel of soliciting prostitution and implied that Krystal was a prostitute.

The court ruled 2 to 1 against Evel, but both opinions are must-reads for fans of overthinking.