Elton John Loses Landmark Irony Libel Case

The ruling supports the right of newspapers to use the humor and satire or irony to criticize public figures. Hyde is a Guardian journalist. A diary spoofing newspaper claimed that Elton John fund-raising efforts were designed primarily to give him a chance to meet celebrities and engage in self-promotion was not defamatory, the High Court has ruled. In July this year The Guardian magazine conducted a series of a regular spoof diary, this time presumably written by Elton John but BYLINED as seen by Marina Hyde . The High Court defended the right of The Guardian newspaper to publish the diary of spoofing, and said that a reasonable reader not to take the contents of a humorous piece in the magazine as fact.