Real Madrid lose lawsuit vs. TV station portraying Pepe as Hannibal Lecter
Real Madrid's lawsuit against a Catalan TV station has been dismissed, with the court rejecting the club's request for compensation after TV3 aired a clip depicting Pepe with a Hannibal Lecter mask.
The Spanish club sought €6 million from the TV station for portraying Pepe as the infamous character in "The Silence of the Lambs," per the Telegraph. The kicker is, aside from the whole premise overall, that the "offense" took place all the way back in 2013.
Originally, a Madrid court ruled that TV3 should pay €20,000 for footage that was deemed ‘degrading,’ ‘slanderous,’ and had crossed the boundaries of free speech, according to the Telegraph. As mentioned, the clips featured Pepe in a Lecter mask and also characterized Real Madrid players as a bunch of hyenas.
The production value could use some work, that's for sure. Then again, it was four years ago. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court (who I'm sure have nothing better to do), before being dismissed. The judges unanimously ruled in favor of the broadcaster, deeming it satire.
Real Madrid probably could have just swept this under the rug and nobody would have talked about it. Instead, this case reached the Supreme Court and called way more exposure to the very thing that made them angry in the first place. It's the Streisand effect on perfect display!
