Is Evel Knievel a Pimp?

[Tom Dalzell]

Although not mentioned in the Ninth Circuit's decision, Connie Eble and
I both were retained by ESPN as expert witnesses and prepared reports
discussing at length the modern use of the term 'pimp' as being
something other than a procurer of prostitutes.

Tom Dalzell



Mullins, Bill wrote:

>>>From the Sports Law Blog
>http://sports-law.blogspot.com/2005/01/not-defamatory-evel-famous-darede
>vil.html
>
>
>"Famous daredevil Evel Knievel had his lawsuit against ESPN thrown out
>by a federal appeals court yesterday. Knievel and his wife had sued ESPN
>for defamation stemming from a caption to a picture posted on its
>website (which has since been taken down). The picture, of Knievel and
>his wife, had a caption that read: "Evel Knievel proves that you're
>never too old to be a pimp."
>
>This is of interest because the decision centered on the various slang
>meanings of the word "pimp".  The court, whose decision is linked in the
>above blog entry, determined that in this case, a non-literal meaning
>should be inferred, based on the context and appearance of many other
>slang terms; therefore it was not reasonable to assume or infer (as,
>apparently Knievel and/or his attorneys did) that ESPN was saying that
>Evel Knievel was in fact a pimp, and had turned out his wife.
>
>The decision cites Lighter's HDAS.  Jon is now a part of legal history
>(and may have been for some time, for all I know).
>
>
>