Will Smith Wins Suit over Adolf Hitler Remarks

A judge in London has awarded Will Smith an unspecified amount of damages in a lawsuit brought by the actor and rapper against entertainment news agency World Entertainment News Network (WENN). According to Reuters, Judge David Eady agreed that WENN had “wholly misrepresented” Smith’s statements and caused him “acute embarrassment.” The suit stems from a story printed by the agency in which it was claimed that Smith had praised German dictator Adolf Hitler as a “good person.” Smith’s actual comments read as follows: “Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today.' I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good.'” Although WENN later printed a retraction, Smith’s attorney Rachel Atkins contended that it went largely ignored by most media outlets. John Melville Smith, the attorney representing WENN, offered apologies on behalf of the agency and accepted that the story was misleading and erroneous. Atkins stated that the monetary compensation awarded by the court will be donated to charity and cover the legal costs of the lawsuit.