LEGAL PRINCIPLE: TORT LAW – Defamation – Ambiguous Statement – May Become Defamatory When Published to Persons Knowing Extrinsic Facts
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
A statement which on the face of it is not defamatory may become so when published to persons who know the facts which enabled persons to whom the libel was published to draw an inference defamatory of the plaintiff.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Ejiwunmi, JSC, in A.C.B. Ltd. & Ors v. Apugo (2001) NLC-1651995(SC) at p. 15; Paras D–E.
"A statement which on the face of it is not defamatory may become so when published to persons who know the facts which enabled persons to whom the libel was published to draw an inference defamatory of the plaintiff."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
An apparently innocent statement may become defamatory when published to recipients who know extrinsic facts that give it a defamatory meaning. The test is whether the recipients, with their special knowledge, would reasonably draw a defamatory inference. The publisher is liable even if unaware of the recipients’ knowledge or the extrinsic facts. This is the “innuendo” meaning of defamation. The plaintiff must prove the existence of the extrinsic facts and that recipients knew them. The publisher assumes the risk of publication to audiences with special knowledge. The defence cannot rely on the statement’s innocent face value if recipients reasonably understood it differently.