Northern Irish singer Van Morrison is being sued by the country’s health minister Robin Swann on the grounds of defamation after the musician criticised the politician’s response to covid.
Northern Irish Singer Van Morrison Is Being Sued By The Country’s Health Minister Robin Swann Over Criticising His Handling Of Covid
The singer has made no secret over his discontent towards the restrictions which have plagued the country. In response, Van has released several songs criticising the imposition of lockdown measures.
During one of these criticisms, he hit out at the health minister after his concert was cancelled at the last minute in June due to coronavirus restrictions.
According to the lawsuit, Van is accused of calling into question the health minister’s character by reportedly referring to him as “a fraud” and “very dangerous.”
Robin did not hold back and has already made his feelings pretty clear outside of the lawsuit. He had allegedly replied by stating that the singer’s comments were “bizarre and irresponsible.”
With both sides having made statements against each other, it is clear that they do not see eye to eye. Any chances of this grievance being settled outside of court has now diminished once and for all.
Paul Tweed, who happens to be Robin’s lawyer, confirmed the following: “[ The proceedings] “are at an advanced stage with an anticipated hearing date early in 2022.”
Van is not going to lie down, though. He has vowed to contest this lawsuit by stating that his comments were legal within the public sphere.
They were not a criticism of the individual character of Robin, but rather on the policies that he was implementing. And given that Northern Ireland is known for being a democratic country, Van believes that he will be cleared.
Van’s lawyer Joe Rice had this to say: “The words used by him related to a matter of public interest and constituted fair comment.”
The reaction on social media was divided, but some users were bemused over why this had ended up in a lawsuit. It would have been easier just to dismiss what the other person was saying.
One user on Twitter remarked: “Bit ridiculous If we all sued anyone who ever said anything about us we d never be out of court .just grin and get on with it.”
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