Ashley Olsen sues tabloid for $56m libel over drug claims

LOS ANGELES - Actress Ashley Olsen, who with her twin, Mary-Kate, run a multimillion dollar entertainment empire, is suing the National Enquirer for US$40 million (NZ$56m), saying the tabloid is trying to ruin her career by linking her to a phony drug scandal.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the 18-year-old Olsen said she was devastated by an article this week that declared in its headline "Ashley Olsen Caught in Drug Scandal" and showed a photo of her with eyes half-closed as if to imply she was on drugs.

The lawsuit, which seeks US$20 million for libel and US$20 million for invasion of privacy, said there was nothing in the article to indicate that Ashley Olsen used or sold drugs or that she knew of any drug use by a man whom she has dated, Scott Sartiano. The lawsuit said Sartiano had "admitted to very limited use of drugs" before meeting Olsen.

A spokesman for the Enquirer, owned by American Media Inc., said the paper stood by its story and would defend it in court.

The lawsuit said, "There is no 'drug scandal' - or at least there was no 'scandal' prior to the publication of the article."

"Freedom of the press is a valuable right, but it is not a license for gossipy tabloids to tar and feather innocent celebrities and destroy their reputations and businesses for the rags' profits,"

The article accused Sartiano of offering people drugs to testify against a former friend in a lawsuit that was later dismissed.

Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, students at New York University, operate an entertainment empire that caters to teenage girls. Mary-Kate was in the news recently for fighting a battle against an eating disorder.

- REUTERS