James Woods Sues Twitter User for $10 Million Over False Cocaine Allegations

James Woods, 68, (Casino, Once Upon A Time in America and Virgin Suicides) recently became furious at a Twitter user, when he called Woods out on social media and made accusations of cocaine use and abuse. NY Daily News said Woods, "went to Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday to file a suit against the anonymous tweeter, known as "Abe List," (aka "AL") for a tweet in which he called the actor a "cocaine addict." NBC News reports, "Woods is suing for defamation and invasion of privacy by false light for the message that was broadcast to 'thousands of AL's followers and hundreds of thousands of Mr. Woods followers,' according to the suit."

The tweet apparently read, "@RealJamesWoods @benshapiro cocaine addict James Woods still sniffing and spouting," Daily News said. Apparently this was in response when the very conservative Woods tweeted about Caitlyn Jenner and Planned Parenthood. There is obviously freedom of speech on both parts, but according to Matthew DeOreo, a defamation attorney with the Law Offices of Tacopina & Seigel, Woods is in the public eye and therefore, the case has to be looked at differently.

Through NBC News, DeOreo said, "Woods is a public figure, he will have to prove the anonymous user intended actual malice — meaning that he or she knew the cocaine allegation was false and recklessly disregarded the facts to publish it anyway ... Lawyers for Woods would also have the extra work of getting Twitter to hand over the identity behind the account. If the case makes it to trial, Woods would also need to show his reputation was so damaged that he was financially harmed." This is difficult without knowing who exactly the user is. In fact, sometimes celebrities don't care so much about the lawsuit itself, but that they are able to respond to false rumors or accusations that they find particularly offensive. DeOreo told NBC News, "[Celebrities] have reputations to protect, and at the end of the day, whether or not they're going to win doesn't matter. They just want to make a public declaration that it's a false statement."