Courtney Love's 'Malicious' Twitter Rants Revealed
Rocker sued for libel after allegedly defaming designer on Twitter and MySpace.
April 1, 2009 -- It was only a matter of time before Hollywood got itself in a hot mess over Twitter, and it seems appropriate that the first celebrity accused of slandering someone on the micro-blogging network is one who was stirring scandal long before the Internet age: Courtney Love.
The rocker and widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was slapped with a lawsuit last week by her former fashion designer, Dawn Simorangkir, over comments Love has written about her on Twitter and MySpace.
CLICK HERE to read the complaint against Courtney Love.
According to a libel claim filed by Simorangkir in Los Angeles Superior Court March 26, Love used Twitter to disseminate "an obsessive and delusional crusade" of malicious libel against her. Simorangkir, who's based in Austin, Texas, also claims Love slandered her on MySpace.
The court documents claim that Love "became infatuated" with Simorangkir and her "Boudoir Queen" clothing line after discovering the designer on Etsy, an online marketplace catering to independent designers. Love commissioned Simorangkir to create clothing for her and flew her out to Los Angeles, but then balked when she was invoiced for the designer's work in February and March.
When Simorangkir suspended her work for Love, according to the court documents, the singer began her online onslaught in earnest, "exhibiting an intense level of animosity towards Simorangkir that has gone well beyond what any reasonable person would consider acceptable behavior."
Many of Love's alleged Twitter messages appear to be combative, and are disjointed and littered with spelling errors. Among those cited in Simorangkir's complaint:
"oi vey don't f*** with my wardrobe or you will end up in a circle of corched earth hunted til your dead."
"as one of her many bullied victims smashes her face soon as she's an assault addict herself (there's apparently prostitution in her record too"
Simorangkir claims the rants also continued on Love's MySpace page.
"i promise you, within a few weeks, Madeoff will seem warm and fuzzy," Love allegedly wrote March 17 (the same day she allegedly posted the above tweets) apparently referring to jailed Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff.
"I can't afford this s*** 2 lifes too short for mean girls/homophobes/racists/untrained women who attach a piece of chiffon to an d dress and call it worth thousand of dollars!," Love wrote on MySpace, according to the complaint.
Simorangkir is seeking unspecified punitive damages from Love.
"Whether caused by drug-induced psychosis, a warped understanding of reality, or the belief that money and fame allow her to disregard the law, Love has embarked on what is nothing short of an obsessive and delusional crusade to destroy Simorangkir's reputation and her livelihood," her complaint states.
Love's lawyer did not return ABCNews.com's calls and e-mails for comment.
Twitter Ideal for (Most) Celebrities
Besides Love, in recent months Twitter has attracted a slew of celebrity users, most of whom have managed to stay out of trouble.
Lance Armstrong, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, P. Diddy, Martha Stewart, John Mayer, Ellen Degeneres, Kathy Griffin, Margaret Cho, Jimmy Fallon and Perez Hilton count themselves among the celebrity "Twitterati," updating accounts themselves or sometimes employing ghost Twitterers/assistants to do the dirty work for them.
Twitter mania has reached into some of the loftiest levels of society. Britain's Queen Elizabeth tweets, with the help of royal staffers. And President Obama, who began twittering during the election campaign, issued the first presidential tweet this week.
Why has Twitter eclipsed blogging as the rich and famous' choice form of fan communication? According to Kathy Griffin, star of "My Life on the D-List," Twitter's 140-character per message limit is perfect for scatterbrained celebrities.
"I think that is key to celebrity-dom, because if you let celebrities go on and on, you'll have a list that's longer than anything anyone wants to read," she said in an interview with ABCNews.com last week. "It puts a limit on celebrities' verbiage."
Though it seems that may not be the case with Love. The complaint against her reveals that she updated her Twitter account more than two dozen times on the evening of March 17, effectively negating the purpose of the site's 140-character per post limit.
Love's flurry of posts on Twitter and MySpace is the latest scandal to get her in hot water. She lost custody of her daughter with the late Cobain in 2003 and spent multiple stints in rehab before regaining custody in 2005.
In July 2008, Love was sued by management firm London & Co. for allegedly failing to pay the company its share of proceeds from her sale of Nirvana's publishing catalog.