The Celebrity Strikes Back

In recent years it seems common for celebrity/pro-athlete scandal stories to follow this trajectory, at least in the early going:

1.    Media outlet/former employee/private citizen X accuses celebrity/athlete Y of bad behavior.

2.    Celebrity/athlete Y denies the accusations.

3.    Celebrity/athlete Y is asked "If the accusations are untrue, why not sue for defamation?"

4.    Celebrity/athlete Y or representative demurs saying "Well, you know, defamation suits are hard to win."

5.    Average Joe/Josephine shrugs and thinks "Yeah, what can you do?" and moves on figuring we'll never know the truth.

One wonders if stories like this will change the above approach at all. (H/T ProFootballTalk.com)