The former editor of the Afrikaans pornographic magazine Loslyf must pay celebrity Amor Vittone R180 000 in damages, the Pretoria High Court ordered on Tuesday.
This followed publication of ”manipulated” pictures that depicted Vittone in a very compromising position.
The pictures, which appeared in the December 2004 issue of Loslyf, made references to Vittone’s breasts, when it was in fact neither her nor her body parts that appeared in the magazine, the court found.
”Vile” references to Vittone and her former Springbok rugby player husband, Joost van der Westhuizen, were made in one of the captions. A picture of a naked woman performing a sexual act on herself formed part of the offensive material.
Vittone, who had initially claimed R1-million in damages from the magazine and its former editor, Eugene Goddard, said in court papers that readers would believe she associated herself with pornography.
She said she was afraid the defamatory material would drive her fans to perceive her as a woman of loose morals who engaged in ”kinky sex”.
The court papers also stated that the pictures violated Vittone’s dignity.
Soon after the publication of the material, Vittone and her husband made an urgent court bid to prevent further publication of the December 2004 issue of Loslyf.
Although they succeeded, several issues had already hit the streets.
Vittone managed to agree on an out-of-court settlement of an undisclosed amount with the magazine.
She was on Tuesday due to proceed against former editor Goddard, but he failed to arrive in court. Judge Chris Botha awarded the R180 000 damages in his absence.
On taking the stand on Tuesday, Vittone told the court that the publication of her manipulated pictures did her a lot of harm.
She said as a result of the publication, six of her performances were cancelled, costing her about R100 000 income.
Judge Botha said after reading the publication and listening to Vittone’s evidence, he understood how the aggrieved she felt. ”While some people find it amusing, other decent members of the community find this to be very offensive,” he said.
Botha said Vittone was definitely entitled to damages, not only as compensation for herself, but also to send out a clear message that ”this type of conduct would not be tolerated”. — Sapa