“American Icon” authors, publisher sued for defamation

Steroids and libel suits go together like liver and onions: really well actually, but they still leave a bad taste in your mouth:

The publisher and authors of a book about steroid use in major league baseball were sued today by a Texas man who says they falsely claimed he was “pushing” steroids to professional athletes and using his gym as a front for selling drugs, according to The Gibson Law Firm.

Former gym owner Kelly Blair, of Deer Park, Texas, alleges that the book – “American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime” (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) – falsely linked him to an “underground steroid network,” a convicted murderer and drug dealer, drug smuggling from Mexico and Canada, and the preparation of “collections of drugs” shipped to professional athletes . . . The defendants in the lawsuit are authors Michael O’Keeffe, Christian Red, Teri Thompson, and Nathaniel Vinton, all of whom are reporters for the New York Daily News; Robin Dobbins, a Deer Park, Texas man who was a source for the book; and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, of New York.

I didn’t read it and don’t know too much about the underlying facts of any of it, so I can’t really opine on the merits. I’ll say, though, that, given the subject matter, the publisher here probably had about 247 lawyers look this thing over for potential lible liability prior to releasing it.

Or at least I hope they did. Can’t tell with big publishers these days.

(link via BTF)