Confidential (magazine) - Later Legal Activity

Later Legal Activity

• Following a highly-unflattering article about Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, an attempt was made to ban the magazine from sale in Cuba.
• In July 1955, Doris Duke sued the magazine for $3 million, claiming libel when Confidential wrote about her and a "Negro handyman and chauffeur" whom the magazine said she once employed.
• In August 1955, US Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield barred Confidential from the mails, citing objectionable content such as a racy description of a strip teasers’ gyrations and a "questionable" cheesecake photograph of Terry Moore. (The American Civil Liberties Union unsuccessfully objected to the ban.)

• The July 1957 issue featured a cover story on Liberace headlined "Why Liberace's Theme Song Should Be 'Mad About the Boy'." It alleged that the actor had a homosexual dalliance with a press agent in Dallas. Liberace successfully sued for libel by proving he was not in Dallas at the time.
• Actress Maureen O'Hara successfully sued the magazine for a story in the March 1957 issue falsely accusing her of having sex in the balcony of Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theatre. As she recounted in her 2004 autobiography Tis Herself, her passport proved that she was in Spain on the date alleged by Confidential. Her lawsuit and large settlement were instrumental in the decline of the magazine.
• Oscar-nominated actress Dorothy Dandridge successfully sued the magazine for a lurid story titled "What Dorothy Did in the Woods."
• Frank Sinatra threatened to sue Confidential for a story about how Wheaties allegedly enhanced his sex life.
• Groucho Marx responded to an article about him in the magazine with his famous letter -- originally printed in his book The Groucho Letters (Simon and Schuster, 1967) and now in the Library of Congress -- "If you don't stop printing scandalous articles about me, I'll be forced to cancel my subscription."