Conrad Black, the embattled media magnate, has managed to extract an apology from Toronto Life (one of Canada’s most respected magazines). With the apology in place, Lord Black has dropped his $2.1 million defamation lawsuit filed against the magazine over a four-page article titled "A Toast to Lord Black on his arrival in Hell."
Here is the apology, which is in the February issue of the magazine:
Toronto
Life did not intend in this article and illustration to question Lord
Black’s observance of the Roman Catholic faith. Toronto Life accepts
and recognizes without reservation or qualification that Lord Black is
an observant Roman Catholic. Toronto Life apologizes to Lord Black for
the pain that the article and illustration have caused him.
The Toronto Star has an article about the lawsuit and apology. Some excerpts:
…In
a lawsuit filed in September, Black alleged that a satirical July story
depicted him as "so irredeemably evil that he should be consigned to
Hell."Black demanded $2 million for general and aggravated damages for defamation and $100,000 in punitive damages.…
Blitt’s satirical illustration accompanying the story showed Black
arriving in the back of a convertible sedan giving a thumbs-up signal
to a host of demons, devils and other underworld ghouls.In Black’s statement of claim, five sections of the article were highlighted in boxes to draw attention to Toronto Life’s alleged defamation."But
the why of Lord Black’s downfall has never been a mystery to those of
us with eyes to see," begins one of the sections. "Consider Citizen
Kane, whose life so closely echoes that of Lord Black — the lust for
prestige and influence, the unquenchable thirst for possessions, the
acquisitive spouse, the immolating lack of proportion and self-control."Black alleged that the Toronto Life article and illustration brought him "into hatred, ridicule and contempt." Black
also attacked the article’s alleged suggestion that his "conversion to
Roman Catholicism was a hypocritical sham" and claimed the magazine’s
conduct was "vindictive, high-handed, contemptuous and demonstrated
reckless and deliberate disregard for the damage that might be done to
(Black’s) good name."
