You can add this to beer baron Frank D'Angelo's growing list of accomplishments: He's responsible for a first in Out of Left Field's existence -- my first threat of legal action.
Representatives of D'Angelo, whom those who watch Hockey Night in Canada or CFL games on the CBC would recognize from his spots plugging his Cheetah energy drink and Steelback beer, sent a letter -- by e-mail! -- demanding I "immediately seize and desist making statements without warrant toward Mr. D'Angelo." (Emphasis mine.) His representative, Mike Cecere, is also demanding I delete "all defamatory comments toward Mr. D'Angelo" and mail "a written letter of apology by March 2nd, 2007 to our office."
It appears Mike Cecere is not a lawyer. First off, lawyers generally know that CEASE and desist is the proper legal term. Secondly, lawyers generally do not use a marketing firm's letterhead for their correspondence and e-mail it in .pdf form. I'm not sure if they ask for letters of apology.
It's understandable that Frank D'Angelo wouldn't like being mocked by bloggers. It's true that I was critical of his suitability as an owner of a Canadian Football League or National Hockey League team, but that is my opinion, presented under the guise of good old-fashioned satire, sarcasm and sardonic wit. All of that is protected speech.
As of this writing, I haven't heard from D'Angelo personally and Mr. Cecere has yet to reply to my e-mail response, sent around 1:30 p.m. Eastern yesterday, where I asked him to specify what was so objectionable. As an olive branch, the last two posts which made mention of D'Angelo, dated Jan. 5 and 10, have been temporarily removed.
As you can tell, I am taking this seriously. This isn't easy to laugh off, but as a journalist who knows his seize from his cease, I'm confident it can be worked out amicably.
Previous D'Angelo-related posts
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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4 comments:
Wow. Lawyer or not, it's getting a little chilly in here....
Well, I'm not an expert, but I would say that a threat of legal action, even on marketing letterhead, is a sign of a well-read blog!
I'm also not a legal expert, but I doubt he would have even a slim case. It is after all a blog with personal opinions, not a newspaper.
Do you guys have the same types of protected speech provisions that we have down here in the States? Opinion and satire are very definitely protected speech in the US, I'm just wondering if you have the same situation in the Great White North. Good luck. The lawyer cracks me up.
Awwww don't sweat the swagger from this greasy huckster Neate. He trys to sue every one who sees through his BS.
When the net's largest Gourmet beer rating site posted tasting comments from members who tried his crappy beer, he threatened to sue the site's owners....he (or his one of his fart catchers) continied to threaten individual posters/reviwers directly and even snuck on the site incognito as members to post phoney flattering/promotional reviews of his garbage beers....now is that a desparate ego or what?....it didn't stop the site (www.ratebeer.com) from discounting the phoney reviews and publishing that he had 4 beers in the world's top 50 worst beers ;-)
Then there is the notorious D'Angelo temeper that made appearances at craft beer festivals where he flew off the rails at patrons who disagreed with him about the quality of his beer.
The constant bleating we hear from Frank whenever he gets caught in another greasy publicity hunt or selling shite as shinola is ;" you're all trying to personally destroy me" ....the inferrence being that we are all jealous of his magnificence and must tear him down so our drab well adjusted existances seem more tolerable ;-)
If you've had Psyche 101 you recognize this as a defense mechanism of a paranoid narcissist or megalomaniacal delusion....but as you say Neate; "He's harmless entertainment"...just the same it is sad to see someone commit intellectual suicide in public so often....now taking a swing at private bloggers who are not enamoured of his public splendor.
Poor combination; a junk beer pimp and brazen publicity whore, with a paper thin ego.
Check this from the G&M:
Quote:
As for the beer itself, not everyone concurs with D'Angelo's insistence that it is "phenomenal." Four of Steelback's labels have made a list of 50 brands deemed the "World's Worst Beers" by the website RateBeer.com, which allows readers to submit reviews.
D'Angelo begs to disagree, suggesting that he is the victim of a smear campaign. Postings on the website criticized D'Angelo's company for packaging Copperhead in plastic, he notes, even though this brew was only sold in glass or cans. "Those low-life punks, they never tried it," he concludes.
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