Tolley v JS Fry & Sons Ltd
An advertisement implying that an amateur golfer had been paid to endorse a product was capable of being defamatory, because it suggested that he had compromised his amateur status.
Facts
Mr Tolley was a well known amateur golfer. Fry & Sons, a chocolate manufacturer, published an advertisement with a cartoon showing Mr Tolley playing golf with a packet of Fry's chocolate sticking out of his pocket, together with a limerick praising the chocolate, without his consent. He sued for libel, arguing that people would think that he had been paid for the advertisement, which would have compromised his status as an amateur golfer.
Legal principle
The House of Lords held that the advertisement was capable of bearing a defamatory meaning, by innuendo. Readers who knew that Mr Tolley was an amateur golfer might conclude that he had agreed to the advertisement for payment, prostituting his reputation as an amateur, which would lower him in the estimation of right thinking people. The case was sent back for a new trial on damages.
Related cases on defamation and privacy
- Berkoff v Burchill [1996] 4 All ER 1008
- Bloomberg LP v ZXC [2022] UKSC 5, [2022] AC 1158
- Campbell v MGN Ltd [2004] UKHL 22, [2004] 2 AC 457
- Cassidy v Daily Mirror Newspapers Ltd [1929] 2 KB 331
- Derbyshire County Council v Times Newspapers Ltd [1993] AC 534
- Douglas v Hello! Ltd (No 3) [2007] UKHL 21, [2008] 1 AC 1
- Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd [2012] UKSC 11, [2012] 2 AC 273
- Jameel v Wall Street Journal Europe Sprl [2006] UKHL 44, [2007] 1 AC 359
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