Lindsay Lohan and her mother Dina Lohan have filed a lawsuit against Fox News, host Sean Hannity and commentator Michelle Fields for defamation stemming from a discussion on Hannity's show last year that referred to Dina as "doing cocaine" with her daughter, according to the New York Daily News.
The conversation took place on Feb. 4, 2014, two days after Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose in his Manhattan apartment. Hannity and his panelists were discussing other celebrities who died from drug overdoses including Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and Elvis.
Court papers, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday, claim that Fields "falsely, inappropriately and shockingly stated, unequivocally and as a 'matter of fact' that 'Lindsay Lohan's mother is doing cocaine with her'."
The Lohans' lawyers called Fields' statement "totally irresponsible" and her suggestion that Lindsay would be the next to join the celebrity "obituary list" was made with "malicious innuendo," according to the Daily News.
"People should be able to feel that if they hear something on TV or read something in the media, it should be truthful," Mark Heller, a lawyer for the Lohans, told Reuters. "Lindsay Lohan is on the way toward restoring her career and getting back on track, and something like this can be very fragile and hurtful to her."
Mother and daughter are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. They also want Fox News to stop distribution of the Feb. 4 episode.
Fox News released this statement to USA Today regarding the lawsuit:
"We will defend this case to the fullest. The remark about which Lindsay and Dina Lohan complain was made on live television by a guest nearly a year ago. We removed the segment from our archives altogether last February and also apologized on-air. At that time, the Lohans did not make any demands for money, and we are surprised they are doing so now."
