What do Gerry Adams, the Kardashians, Sarah Ferguson and Louis Walsh have in common? They have all been represented by Northern Irish media lawyer Paul Tweed, who has been at the heart of some of the biggest libel and defamation cases of recent decades.
Tweed came to prominence amid the high-profile fallout between Barry McGuigan and Barney Eastwood, representing the latter after the former unexpectedly lost his WBA featherweight world title in June 1986, which Tweed maintains “evolved into the most sensational libel action in Irish legal history”. His client list reads like a who’s who of A-list star, including pop princess Britney Spears, who he represented in her 2006 action against the National Enquirer in the UK and Ireland. He also acted for former NI first minister Arlene Foster in her landmark case against TV personality Dr Christian Jessen.
Tweed is also no stranger to controversy, having been the target of deliberate misinformation campaigns, suffered attempts to hack his phone and email, and even been followed by private investigators “retained on behalf of a hostile state”.
Tweed began his career in Northern Ireland and credits the “everyday trauma” of the Troubles with helping prepare him for the more difficult aspects of his job. He is famously nonpartisan, admitting to being “probably the only person to receive Christmas cards from both Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley”.
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He mentions plenty of his famous clients, and comments on other cases he wasn’t directly involved with, from “Wagatha Christie” to Depp/Heard, but this is far more than high-brow celebrity gossip. Indeed, much of the book is taken up with Tweed’s certainty that international libel laws need to change to keep up with new media.
As you might expect from a media lawyer of his vast experience, he makes a strong, compelling case for the introduction of effective rules to cover the online arena, as technology, including AI, moves at speeds multiple times faster than the creaky legislation that Tweed argues is not fit for purpose, allowing big tech to ride roughshod over people’s reputations without anything like the recourse available to those libelled in traditional media.
In a fascinating read, he argues convincingly that the online giants are gaining all the rewards of news dissemination, including diverting revenue from mainstream media, without any of the associated responsibilities.
John Walshe is a freelance critic
