Court dismisses Shila Amzah’s suit against Kosmo reporter, two others

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today dismissed a suit filed by popular local singer Shila Amzah against an entertainment reporter and two others over an allegedly defamatory article published in Kosmo! on Sept 17, 2014.

Judge Rosnaini Saub made the decision after the defence presented that the published article contained a fair review and was not malicious.

In Justice Rosnaini's 33-page judgment, which was read out by the deputy registrar Erry Shariman Noor Arifin, the court also found that the article published by Kosmo! was made under qualified privilege.

The court also ruled that as a celebrity, Shila, whose real name is Nurshahila Amir Amzah, must be open to criticisms.

It ordered Shila to pay costs of RM20,000 to the three defendants, namely Kosmo! entertainment reporter Maliah Surip, the editor and the publisher, which is Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd.

Shila and her company, Shila Amzah Entertainment Bhd, filed the suit on Jan 16, 2015 and they were represented by counsel Mahendra Kumar.

In her statement of claims, the singer claimed that Maliah had written several articles in the tabloid, which implied that the 'Shila Amzah-Love Live in Malaysia' concert at Mega Star Arena on Sept 13, 2014, was sponsored by the largest casino in the country, and that she (Shila) had ignored the Malay media.

The singer claimed that the articles were written after a status was uploaded onto Instagram by the account holder who goes by the name 'Shilaamzah_photography', on Sept 15, 2014, which generally praised the media, especially the Chinese media, for their comprehensive coverage on the concert.

The singer, who had represented the country in the Asian Wave Singing Competition in China in 2012, claimed that she did not know the 'Shilaamzah_photography' account holder and the account was not in any way related to her company, Shila Amzah Entertainment.

She said the concert was jointly organised by Mega Ultimate Sdn Bhd and the "number one gaming company in Malaysia" had never sponsored the event as mentioned in the articles.

The plaintiffs claimed that the articles written by the reporter implied that she was an immoral person who was willing to go against her religious and cultural beliefs, racist and insensitive towards her race in trying to gain sponsorship from an unlawful source for the success of the concert.

Both the plaintiffs also sought compensation, additional costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

- Bernama