Marie Fredriksson demands 500,000 kronor from Expressen
Written by tevensso on February 18, 2003 to Marie Fredriksson.
STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - Marie Fredriksson is demanding half a million kronor in damages, and a public apology from the Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen.
Expressen’s speculations about her getting another tumor are demeaning and offensive, Marie feels.
This January, Expressen wrote that “she is fighting another lump that is believed to be another tumor” and that the doctors suspected that this [tumor] was only one of several additional tumors.
Leif Silbersky, a well-known celebrity laywer who is representing Marie, writes in a letter to Otto Sjöberg, publisher of Expressen, that she has reacted with anger and astonishment to the articles. According to Silbersky, the articles are a mixture of fact, speculation and pure lies which Marie regards as demeaning and repulsive.
Silbersky also states in his letter that the speculations have “no root in reality”.
Marie intends to sue Expressen, but if she gets a public apology on the front page and on the news bills, the newspaper can avoid a trial. She wants 500,000 kronor ($60,000) in damages, plus legal fees.
The half million will go, in full, to Cancerfonden (The Cancer Foundation), according to Sjöberg’s letter.
- Aftonbladet’s article (In Swedish)
- Journalisten (In Swedish)
- BBC
In reacting to the demands (made public in such other newspapers as Aftonbladet), Sjöberg says he is is deeply sorry that Marie has been offended by Expressen’s articles about her illness. “I’m truly sorry for it. It has not been our intention,” Sjöberg says to “Journalisten”, the union website for journalists.
Whether Expressen will agree to these demands or not, Sjöberg declines to say. “These are formal legal demands that are handled by our ombudsman Peter Danowsky.”
Otto Sjöberg stresses that Expressen only wrote about Marie’s illness after she had gone public with it herself. “If she then feels that we have gotten too close and if she feels violated and repulsed, then I’m truly sorry. It was never our intention.
According to Journalisten, Marie’s demands are very uncommon for the Swedish press - both an apology and a large amount of money… to not go to court.
Other articles with the same topic
- Video for "Där du andas" (August 10, 2008)
- Gothenburg art gallery to show Marie's work (July 24, 2008)
- EMI Argentina decides to release Marie's compilation (July 14, 2008)
- Marie sings title song for Swedish movie (June 27, 2008)
- Opeth releases Marie song (June 9, 2008)
73 comments
Judith (moderator) said on February 18, 2003 08:45:
yes!! and it is for charity, so even better!
Agus said on February 18, 2003 09:35:
Well done... Someone has to teach them that journalists are supposed to tell the truth, not to invent stories just to sell more papers, without taking care about the so much pain they can cause with those lies...
Katuska said on February 18, 2003 09:48:
YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! :-)))))
Th_Th said on February 18, 2003 10:34:
I think that shows the goodness of Marie. Other people would want to keep the money for themselves, but Marie does it for charity. The only thing for herself is, that she wants an apology. This really prooves to me, what great and wonderful of a person she is.
And to be honest with you guys, when I read the January news in Expressen, my eyes were filled with tears.
Marie deserves Justice!
vivien said on February 18, 2003 10:44:
Vad härligt att höra det !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
imazombieinthem... said on February 18, 2003 10:54:
They deserve a big kick up the ass for writing such crap! Well done Marie!
rox-kuryliw said on February 18, 2003 11:39:
YOU GO GIRL, IM SO GLAD, MONEY ALL TO A GOOD CAUSE.
onlywhenidream said on February 18, 2003 11:56:
it’s about £38K - quite a nice amount to be getting if you are a charity - and a worthy one too.
big-little-girl said on February 18, 2003 13:38:
I agree - 500.000 SEK are NOT enough! Should be 500.000 € instead! STUPID Expressen! :oP
BEST REGARDS!
TAKE CARE!
Almost forgotten:
There are some stupid German “newspapers”, too which Marie must sue!!! Like “Schöne Woche” (Their article was even worse than Expressen’s!!!) or “VIDA” just to name a few!!!
Galning said on February 18, 2003 13:53:
Yeah, fight for it Marie. It´s maybe a step that all those “News”-Papers make stop to release articles which are full of lies...
daniel_alv said on February 18, 2003 14:32:
i don’t think any court in Sweden should agree woth 500000€, it’s to much
Santi said on February 18, 2003 15:17:
Good to know! Now we can be sure they were lies.
crashroxer said on February 18, 2003 15:36:
GO TO HELL “EXPRESSEN”!!!
Marie be strong and we all know: YOU ARE A FIGHTER!!!
Marie I love more than anything in the world...
crashi
Edit: Changed explicit language. /TEV
Judith (moderator) said on February 18, 2003 15:57:
yeah yeah “I’m truly sorry for it. It has not been our intention” this should go on like “we only wanted to gain a couple of bucks thanks to the stories”
>:(
matthias said on February 18, 2003 16:10:
I hope this stupid newspaper has to pay ’cause the money is for The Cancer Foundation!
Marie, you’re doing the right thing! :-)
matts said on February 18, 2003 16:59:
it’s quite common that you give such money to charity organisations if you get it on that way. tom cruise and many other did that already. so I think that doesn’t say much about her personality. but well, it’s nice for this cancer fund of course.
Roxeanne said on February 18, 2003 17:06:
look like she’s got power again.
” how to turn anger into hitsingles”, isn’t it like that? :-)
by that point of view we almost have to thank expressen, hehehe...
Lovedream said on February 18, 2003 17:22:
Great Marie! Maybe that “journalist” from now on will think before writing such things!!!!
ngriffioen said on February 18, 2003 17:37:
Marie you ROCK, go girl, you can take them!! You will win this fight against cancer, no matter what those newspapers write!
I’m so proud you decided to show them a lesson and reacted this way on their disgusting articles. They made me sick, you have enough to worry about! This shows you are on your way back, I believe in you honey!!! Ta hand om dig!!
*Nienke*
LittleSpooky said on February 18, 2003 18:03:
Right on!!! Tabloids across the world are starting to get smacked down by the stars (music, movie and others). They don’t realise (or they refuse to) that this stuff MAY not hurt the individual directly, but damage the family. Children don’t understand why people do this. Especially young children.
Go get em Ms. Fredriksson. I think this is long over due.
martin_nl said on February 18, 2003 08:41:
You go Marie!!! Hopefully she gets some justice here! The article also ended up in the Dutch newspapers. For example in Haarlems Dagblad with a great live photo!!! Check it out at http://www.haarlemsdagblad.nl/Index/0,4376,,00.html?sHoofdUrl=http%3A%2F...
Martin
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