Doris Day Files $25-Million Lawsuit Against the Globe

Actress Doris Day filed a $25-million lawsuit against the Globe on Tuesday, charging that the Boca Raton, Fla.-based tabloid libeled her and invaded her privacy with an article headlined: “Doris Day, 67, Lives Like a Bag Lady!”

The suit, filed a day after actor Tom Selleck settled a $20-million lawsuit against the same weekly paper, is the latest in a string of legal challenges by actors and actresses against the Globe and other supermarket tabloids that trade in celebrity news and gossip.

“People need to know that tabloids like the Globe are really cheating and deceiving the public,” Day said in a statement released by her publicist, Linda Dozoretz. “Many people, unfortunately, believe the lies these people print. I want to add my voice to those others who are suing the tabloids to reinforce the message that reckless, irresponsible journalism does a disservice to everyone--celebrity victims and innocent readers alike.”

Day’s suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, says the Globe falsely reported in a July 23 article that she had become an eccentric semi-recluse who some nights wandered the streets of Carmel, where she lives, looking like a bag lady; that she had been seen rummaging through trash cans looking for food scraps to make stew for her dogs, and that she didn’t recognize her own voice on her hit recording of “Que Sera, Sera.”

She is seeking $20 million in general damages for herself and $5 million for her production company.

Day insists that the tabloid’s description of her is false, and that she is in perfect mental health.

“So many people have expressed their concern since the publication of this story,” said Day, who gained fame from portraying a clean-living, freckle-faced girl-next-door-type in a series of romantic movie comedies in the 1950s. “I want everyone to know that I am enjoying perfect health and financial security, thank God.”

The story also alleged that Day had announced she would star in an ABC made-for-TV movie, but “none of the network’s executives know anything about it.”

An ABC spokesman said Tuesday that scripts are in development for a future made-for-TV movie that would star Day, but no production start date has been set.

The suit, filed on behalf of Day and her production company, Arwin Productions, follows a denial of her request from the Globe for a retraction. Among her concerns were the fear that the story could harm her work with the Doris Day Pet Foundation and Doris Day Animal League.

“I want to assure our members that they can trust me, and that the animals are getting excellent care,” Day said. “It’s sad to think that the credibility I have established over the years can be harmed because of a libelous article in a tabloid.”

Paul Levy, a lawyer with Deutsch, Levy & Engel in Chicago who represents the Globe, declined to comment specifically on the Day suit because he said he had not yet received the documents, but said that there has never been a celebrity legal judgment against the Globe in its approximate 25-year history.

“Our news gathering and sourcing is substantive and appropriate to its purpose,” Levy said. “It’s become a reaction on the part of the celebrity community to litigate unfavorable or unflattering publicity and I think the Globe has become the fashionable target.”

Levy, without specifying anyone, suggested that the apparent rise in lawsuits against the Globe stems from a concern among celebrities that negative stories could jeopardize the substantial amounts of money involved in their projects and that litigation is often reactive rather than substantive.

“The industry and celebrities involved are interested in precluding negative publicity,” said Levy.

Day’s lawsuit followed by a day Selleck’s settlement of his $20-million suit against the Globe. The Globe published a clarification in its Aug. 13 issue, stating: “The Globe did not intend to express or imply that Tom Selleck is or ever was a homosexual, and the Globe apologizes to the extent that any statements made by any Globe editors concerning the article were construed to express or imply that Tom Selleck is or was a homosexual.”

In June, rapper M.C. Hammer filed a $30-million suit against the Globe, over its report that he witnessed 11 men raping a former employee and did nothing to stop it.

Levy said that actor and former football player Lyle Alzado filed suit against the publication within the last two months.

One of the most successful recent lawsuits by a celebrity against a tabloid came in 1981 when a jury awarded Carol Burnett $1.6 million in her suit against the National Enquirer over a 1976 article that depicted her as intoxicated at a restaurant with then-Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. The award was later reduced to $200,000, but Burnett and the Enquirer then agreed to an unspecified out-of-court settlement.