Pastor loses defamation lawsuit after radio station argues fair comment

THE HIGH Court has issued a warning to the hosts of a radio morning show here even as it dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against them by a pastor.

“As a postscript, I just want to issue a word of warning to the defendants who are young and not so young men that as strong as they may feel about a matter, it is always prudent to err on the side of temperance in issuing their opinions,” Justice Nicola Byer said in her ruling.

The court found that the defendants, Luke Boyea, Christopher ‘2Kool’ Jones, and Charles “Columbian” Villarreal, who were the host of the Hot 97’s A.M. Mayhem morning show in 2018, were entitled to rely on a defence of fair comment, which provided a complete defence to the words spoken.

The pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Sigmund Wiggins, had brought the lawsuit against the trio, who used their morning show to discuss a media report that in or about September 2018, Wiggins had stood bail for a 70-year-old member of his congregation who was charged with indecent assault of a seven year-old child.

During the broadcast on October 3, 2018, the defendants interviewed Ronita Ollivierre, who made certain allegations against the man for whom Wiggins had stood bail. The defendants published certain words on October 3 and 4 that Wiggins alleged were defamatory of him as a minister of religion.

Boyea, Jones, and Villarreal admitted that they published t he words complained of but did not admit that they were concerning Wiggins by way of his calling as a minister of religion.

They also denied that the statement had the meanings attributed to them by Wiggins and also denied that they were published maliciously. Further, the defendants said that the statements complained of were fair comment and were published under circumstances of qualified privilege.