Humane Assn. Sues Bob Barker for Libel
A $10-million libel suit against game show host and animal activist Bob Barker and others was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court by the American Humane Assn. and its West Coast director.
Barry Langberg, an attorney for the AHA, said the suit contends that Barker and other animal rights organizations have conducted a two-year “vendetta” against the association and its West Coast director, Betty Denny Smith.
The suit accuses Barker, the United Activists for Animal Rights and its executive director, Nancy Burnet, of libel, slander, trade libel, interference with prospective business relations, conspiracy and false-light invasion of privacy, Langberg said.
The suit maintains that Barker began his campaign in 1987 after the American Humane Assn. refused to support him in a dispute with the Southwest Missouri Humane Society.
“On radio he accused Betty Denny Smith of condoning animal cruelty and of standing by and condoning violation of the California Penal Code,” Langberg said. “What worse could you say about the American Humane Assn. than that they condone animal cruelty?”
Burnet could not be reached for comment. Barker, longtime host of the television game show “The Price Is Right,” denied the allegations.
After 19 years of hosting the Miss USA Pageant, Barker quit in 1987 because contestants wore real fur coats during the presentation.
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