Former sports star files lawsuit

Robert Chacon

Former two-sport star Bo Jackson has filed a defamation lawsuit

against a southern California newspaper and one of its writers, a La

Canada Flintridge resident.

In a March 24 story, sportswriter Jim Mohr, now an editor at the

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, quoted a nutrition expert as saying

that Jackson used anabolic steroids during his professional career,

said attorney Dan Biederman, who filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Cook

County, Ill.

Mohr’s employer -- the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin -- and its

parent and sister companies Media News Group Inc. and Media News

Group Interactive Inc. and editor Steve Lambert were also named in

the lawsuit.

In the story, about a teen forum focusing on the dangers of

steroid use, Mohr quotes Ellen Coleman as saying, “Bo Jackson lost

his hip because of anabolic use.”

But in a signed affidavit, Coleman denied ever saying that in the

presentation or in a personal interview with Mohr, Biederman said.

“Mr. Jackson has never met [Coleman] in his life, and she said

that she never made those comments,” Biederman said. Coleman provided

him with a video copy of her presentation at the forum, and Jackson’s

name is not mentioned anywhere in the video, he said.

“Because it’s a lawsuit, I can’t say anything,” Mohr said. “I’d

love to, but I can’t.”

Lambert also refused to comment, saying only that the paper has

not been served with the lawsuit.

“I did not say that [about Jackson], and I signed an affidavit to

that effect,” Coleman said. “You can watch the video and see for

yourself.”

The video is available at https://www.sportclinic.md.

She also did not talk about an athlete suffering a career-ending

hip injury, she added.

Jackson’s hip injury, suffered during a 1991 playoff game when he

was a running back for the then Los Angeles Raiders, ended his

football career and may have been a factor in cutting short his

professional baseball career in 1994.

Jackson is suing for unspecified general and punitive damages and

for an immediate retraction of the comment, Biederman said.

“We need to evaluate the lasting damage on Mr. Jackson’s

reputation, and once we do that, we will be in a better position to

specify a dollar amount,” Biederman said. “Mr. Jackson has never used

anabolic steroids as alleged in the article by this reporter. A

retraction is certainly the first step in recovering Mr. Jackson’s

good name.”

Saying that Jackson has used steroids could have a devastating

effect on his ability to make a living, he added.

Jackson, who now lives in suburban Chicago, is involved in

numerous business and public speaking ventures and product

endorsements.

“Sponsors could immediately terminate their relationship with Mr.

Jackson if they thought he was using steroids,” Biederman said.