Could Tom Cruise Sue "South Park" For Suggesting He is Gay? And Even If He Could, Should He?

FindLaw ^ | December 6, 2005 | Julie Hilden

[AnotherUnixGeek]

"If I'm not mistaken, good ole "L Ron" also wrote "Battelfield Earth,"" which is also much of the basis for scientology.

"Battlefield Earth" and Scientology have some elements in commmon - they're both very bad science fiction. However, "Battlefield Earth" was written a long time after Hubbard established the Dianetics and Scientology cult.

[lmailbvmbipfwedu]

now I know it's a science fiction novel.


Not a very good one at that................

[af_vet_rr]

Reminds me of the "Troy Aikman is gay" rumors a while back- I think some people do tend to get jealous and go to the gay card.

Wasn't that around the time he and Lorrie Morgan were dating? I remember wondering if the rumors were there simply because she was several years older than him and some people found it scandalous.

[kevkrom]

3) Was there malicious intent.

This is Matt and Trey we're talking about. Of course there was malicious intent. It's what they do for a living.

[jackson29]

even if he was what would it matter? to sue he would open a new can of worms

isn't this the same guy who had an involvement in the heidi fleiss thing, where he declared on the stand that he had purchased hetero sex?

[svcw]

He has sued others (papers) for suggesting he is homosexual. He has won.

[dangus]

Oooohh! All the people involved -- John Smith, John Smith, Jane Smith, John Smith, Jane Smith, John Smith and John Smith -- are terrified!

[af_vet_rr]

If a lawsuit comes of the South Park episode, it won't be because it inferred that Cruise AND Travolta are gay. They gave the facts of what Scientology believes, and that's a big no-no.

That's what I felt - the Tom Cruise thing was funny, no doubt about that, but when they started doing the "THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGIES REALLY BELIEVE" bit, I was thinking maybe they got a renewal bonus from Comedy Central and were planning on using it to hire some good lawyers. Scientology is litigation happy.

[dfwgator]

That dude in Napoleon Dynamite is a much better actor than Tom Cruise.

[dfwgator]

I figure they took so long to do a show on Scientology because Isaac Hayes is a Scientologist. He must not be on the show anymore, so they figured they could finally do it.

[eastforker]

No!! According to the left homosexuality is normal so therefor no slander occured.

[MozarkDawg]

If Cruise does, will Trey and Matt use the "Chewbacca Defense"??

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Not to split hairs but I thought this episodes credits listed only John and Jane Smith, not Doe.

[Clemenza]

Well, I have a neighbor who wants to sue South Park for defaming Gingers.

[Clemenza]

Well, I have a neighbor who wants to sue South Park for defaming Gingers.

[Yo-Yo]

I'M NOT GAY! DON'T TELL ME I'M GAY! I KNOW THE TRUTH!

[dangus]

More seriously, losing the suit would be disasterous. It would play into every stereotype (ahem, truth) that scientology is trying to avoid (ahem, cover up). It would publicise the accusations, embue them with a seriousness that they currently lack, and establish that they are not slander.

If he sues, he absolutely must win, and suing a satire which even satirized itself as lawsuit bait, would be hard in enough in a country like Britain. In the ol' US of A, the plaintiff must establish that the defendent KNEW that the claims actually false, not merely baseless. And South Park could very, very easily simply claim that they never said Tom Cruise was gay, they were just making fun of the speculation that he was gay. The character of Cruise never did anything at all gay; all South Park did was feature OTHER PEOPLE telling Tom Cruise to (very literally) "come out of the closet."

[JustRight]

"isn't this the same guy who had an involvement in the heidi fleiss thing, where he declared on the stand that he had purchased hetero sex?

No, I think that was Charlie Sheen.

[cgk]

Have you seen the movie?

[thefactor]

it's not slander if it's true...