Irish businessman takes legal action against Waterford Whispers
This is what happens when Photoshop goes bad, apparently.
According to the Irish Times, the satirical new website Waterford Whispers News has been served with a cease and desist letter. It comes following businessman Denis O'Brien appeared in an altered image in which he was a convicted criminal.
Following their posting of an article that features Irish businessman Denis O’Brien as a convicted criminal, his legal team served the site with the letter.
The founder of Communicorp has managed to since have the article removed from the site. His lawyers have said it was a “malicious and deliberate defamation of the most serious kind”.
You know you're doing something right when a multi-billionaire megalomaniac sends you a cease and desist letter. #WAR pic.twitter.com/adWvrcgZUj
— Colm Williamson (@ColmWhispers) August 6, 2015
The article was focused on the findings of the Moriarty tribunal in relation to his dealings with the minister for communications of the time Michael Lowry when he was awarded the State’s second mobile phone licence.
The letter was tweeted by editor of the site Colm Williamson, which was marked private and confidential.
Quoting the article, the letter referred to the “parallel universe” in the article and how it was a “sham”.
Williamson’s tweet captioned the image: "You know you're doing something right when a multi-billionaire megalomaniac sends you a cease and desist letter".
Naturally some social media users couldn't help but weight in on the situation:
@ColmWhispers The absolute Holy Grail for the Satirist! well done. im so happy with this. you can stay on my couch if you lose the house.
— Martin's Life (@itsmartinslife) August 6, 2015
The article was to be removed from the site and all social media platforms by yesterday evening at the latest, or the legal team warned they would “take all necessary steps to vindicate our client’s good name and reputation”.
Mr O’Brien, who is currently involved in a legal dispute with the Oireachtas accusing the courts of breaching his Constitutional rights, has yet to comment on the letter.
