In Defense of the Douche
"Douche" is having a moment, clearly. Last weekend, the New York Times devoted a front-page story to point out that the word has been used 76 times during primetime TV this fall (provoking a good deal of mockery online and off in the process). Now the infamous "douche" lawsuit from 2008 has popped back up in New York State Supreme Court.
In case you missed it at the time, sketchy publicist (and Gawker punching bag) Ronn Torossian filed a $20 million lawsuit against rival flack Drew Kerr last year after the latter purchased the web domain rontorossian.com and linked it to a photo of Summer's Eve douches. It turns out the case was settled out of court earlier this year without any money changing hands, although the settlement also appears to have involved taking down the site that sparked the feud as it's no longer operational.
But now the case has landed back in court since Kerr filed a lawsuit of his own, taking on his insurance company to recover his legal fees defending himself against Torossian.
Kerr claims his actions were covered under his liability policy; the company disagreed and pointed to Torossian's claim of defamation. This week Justice Judith J. Gische of New York Supreme Court weighed in, explained that calling someone a "douche" isn't defamation since it's an opinion, not a fact, and granted Kerr's motion of summary judgment. And now it will be up to a court referee to decide how much Kerr will get for his douche-related troubles. The ruling is below.