Meat Industry INSIGHTS Newsletter

980273 Cattleman to Appeal Verdict in Winfrey Lawsuit

February 26, 1998

Amarillo, TX - Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey beat Texas cattle barons in a lawsuit over whether she had slandered cows, but said she still had no taste for burgers.

"No. I'll never say never, but I don't think so," she said when asked if she would eat one now.

A 12-person jury in Texas beef capital Amarillo took two sessions totaling less than seven hours to reject the civil damages claim against Winfrey.

A jubilant Winfrey raised her arms, punched the air and shouted "Yes!" as she emerged from the federal courthouse to the cheers of dozens of rowdy fans.

"Free speech not only lives, it rocks," she said to loud applause.

Winfrey, who grew up poor in Mississippi but parlayed her television popularity into an estimated fortune of $550 million, said her black heritage had given her the resolve to fight the lawsuit.

"I will continue to use my voice. I believed from the beginning this was attempt to muzzle that voice. I come from a people who have struggled and died in order to have voice in this country and I refuse to be muzzled," she said.

The cattlemen accused Winfrey and her guest, Howard Lyman, a rancher-turned-vegetarian campaigner, of deliberately attacking the industry in a 1996 program.

In the program, Lyman said U.S. cattle were being fed ground-up cattle parts, raising the risks of a mad cow disease epidemic which would "make AIDS look like the common cold."

Winfrey then told the studio audience and viewers that Lyman's comments "just stopped me cold from eating another burger."

Cattle futures dropped sharply, and the Texas cattlemen said Winfrey was to blame.

Jurors said they had some misgivings about the program, but their belief in the right of free speech guided their decision.

"We didn't necessarily like what we had to do but we had to decide for the First Amendment," jury forewoman Christy Sams said.

Juror Pat Gowdy said the verdict contained a more chilling message for Americans.

"We felt that many rights have eroded in this country. Freedom of speech may be the only one left to help us get back what we've lost," he told reporters.

Paul Engler, one of the cattlemen who sued Winfrey, said he would appeal the verdict. He said he may have been beaten by Winfrey's celebrity more than her legal arguments.

He congratulated Winfrey but said the trial sent a message to talk show hosts to make sure their facts were correct. Testimony demonstrated there was no risk of a mad cow epidemic in the United States, he said.

"We did accomplish that main objective to convince the U.S. people, the consumers, that U.S. beef is safe," he told reporters. "I want to see responsible reporting and responsible talk show hosts.

The jury's verdict sparked a champagne celebration by adoring fans who ran from the courthouse shouting "Oprah won" then popped open a bottle of bubbly in the street.

Winfrey, who came out after the champagne was finished, said her only celebration would be the taping of two shows on Thursday night, then heading home to Chicago.

The trial, she said, had been tiring and "very, very difficult," but had also affirmed her belief in the U.S. justice system.

"It was the most trying, but also most validating experience I've ever had. Every day (in the court) one of the bailiffs would say 'God bless these United States and this honorable court' and I feel the same," she said. "I think the system works."

Winfrey said she always acted "with the utmost responsibility" on her show but the lawsuit had taught her that free speech was something she would "never again take for granted."

The Denver, Colo.-based National Cattlemen's Beef Association said in a statement it was "disappointed" with the verdict, but joined Engler in calling for responsible reporting on food issues.

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