Hollywood Blogger Accused of Defamation

LOS ANGELES (CN) - A man claims a Hollywood blogger defamed him as a pimp and pornographer to promote the blogger's book, "Six Degrees of Paris Hilton." Dillon Jordan claims that editors of defendant Mark Ebner's book would not publish the libels in the book, so Ebner published the false allegations on his website, HollywoodInterrupted.com, "to promote the sale of his book."

Jordan also sued Danno Hanks, a private detective, in Superior Court.

Jordan says he is sold owner of Diablo entertainment, "a party and event planning business." He says he "was well known in the Hollywood community and was friends with several high profile celebrities. However, he was not a celebrity and was by no means a public figure."

Jordan says that while he was organizing a private party in Cuba in 2002, he was arrested and "incarcerated for several years without being told why he was being held. A few years prior to his release he was finally advised that he was charged with solicitation. Plaintiff was released in 2010," according to the complaint.

The complaint continues: "After plaintiff's arrest in Cuba, plaintiff's house was burglarized and several valuable items were taken, including but not limited to money, jewelry and plaintiff's computer.

"Plaintiff is informed and believes that one of the perpetrators of the burglary was defendant Danno Hanks, who stole plaintiff's computer and sold or gave the contents of same to defendant, Ebner. In defendant Ebner's story published on his website blog HollywoodInterrupted, Ebner writes that defendant Hanks, secretly and in violation of several laws, copied plaintiff's hard drive while performing work on his computer. ... Moreover, plaintiff's diary excerpts of which [sic] defendant Ebner published, was in a computer that had not been used by plaintiff for several years and was being stored in plaintiff's closet."

Jordan claims the defendants invaded his privacy by publishing "private facts from plaintiff's life including excerpts from plaintiff's stolen diary, including instances of alleged sexual and physical abuse suffered by plaintiff at the hands of his mother and father."

On Jan. 11, 2009, "Ebner and Hanks without plaintiff's consent and using the information obtained from defendant, Hanks, defamed plaintiff and invaded plaintiff's right to privacy by publishing an article entitled 'Lower Depths: Web Extra!' in which plaintiff was identified by name as a person who was a child pornographer and a 'Hollywood pimp' and included private facts from plaintiff's life including excerpts from plaintiff's stolen diary, including instances of alleged sexual and physical abuse suffered by plaintiff at the hands of his mother and father," the complaint states.

Jordan claims that Ebner "made up facts, manipulated and sensationalized facts to wrongfully depict plaintiff as a child pornographer and 'Hollywood Pimp' in order to boost sales for his book. ... Ebner knew that plaintiff was not a child pornographer or a Hollywood Pimp, [and] that plaintiff's hard drive did not contain child pornography. ... Defendants conjured up facts, embellish facts and used private information about plaintiff, creating a sensational story for his book. When publishers would not allow him to use the information in his book, he posted the story on his website as a promotional tool to sell his books."

Jordan claims that as a result of the defamation, his "relationship with his teen-age daughter and her grandparents has been significantly affected."

Jordan seeks an injunction and punitive damages for defamation, privacy invasion, and other charges. He is represented by Erik Zograbian with Aghabegian & Associates, of Glendale.

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