Confidential (magazine) - On Trial

On Trial

Even though many of the articles did not result in lawsuits, some stars were forced to sue in order to try to save their reputations and careers. At one time Confidential had pending lawsuits that amounted to twelve million dollars in damages. But the magazine got away with a lot more as the celebrities didn’t want to draw attention to the articles.

In 1957 Hollywood tried to stop the gossip mongering and convinced the California Attorney-General to charge Robert Harrison with "conspiracy to publish criminal libel." The star witness for the prosecution was Howard Rushmore, an ex-reporter at the Communist Daily Worker and former member of CPUSA who was hired as an editor by Confidential in October 1954.

When the trial started Defense Attorney Arthur J. Crowley subpoenaed hundreds of Hollywood stars as witnesses which turned out to be a stroke of genius for the marketing of the scandal magazine. At the beginning of the trial the defence started reading the juiciest magazine pieces into the court record. This meant that the libelous stories could be re-printed by the more serious press, the worst possible development for the film industry.

At the end of the trial the jury was sequestered at the luxurious Mayflower Hotel. The jury set a new state record in deliberation time while enjoying Mayflower’s amenities. After 15 days it was declared that the jury could not reach a verdict.

A re-trial was scheduled but by then the film industry had had enough. Hollywood started wielding behind-the-scenes pressure by threatening to withhold campaign contributions for local politicians and after ten days the judge declared that there would be no new trial. A deal was struck between Harrison and the film industry that stated that the charges were dropped in exchange for leaving the movie stars alone.