Hard Copy

In 1992, Elton John threatened to take Hard Copy to court, alleging a reporter tried to blackmail him into giving an interview by falsely claiming he had AIDS and had moved to Atlanta to be near an AIDS treatment center.[2] John alleged extortion, slander, invasion of privacy and reckless endangerment.[3]

The day after the lawsuit was filed, the show ran a segment about John but, rather than accuse him of having HIV, praised him for the work he was doing for those affected by the disease. John's attorney told The Enquirer he "assume(d) the show was changed as a result of our suit".[4][5]

On November 27, 1994, FOX aired an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homer Badman". When Homer takes babysitter Ashley Grant home from babysitting their kids, he is assumed to commit sexual harassment though in reality he is trying to eat a rare piece of gummi candy. The entire incident devolves into a media frenzy complete with a stand off. To make matters worse, Dennis Franz voiced himself playing Homer in a TV movie.

As a result, Homer takes part in a Hard Copy-like show called Rock Bottom. However, the show distorts Homer's case and it takes public access cable and aid from Groundskeeper Willie, who was filming in the area at the time of the incident, to clear Homer's name. The episode ended with Rock Bottom giving a series of corrections.

In 1996, actor George Clooney began a public boycott of both Hard Copy and Paramount's celebrity news show Entertainment Tonight after Hard Copy violated a six-month agreement not to air segments about Clooney by airing footage of Clooney and then-girlfriend Celine Balitran on the set of his film Batman & Robin. Other celebrities supported the boycott including Whoopi Goldberg, Madonna, and Steven Spielberg.[6] Paramount eventually agreed to modify the way that both shows gathered information for their stories.[7] They also agreed not to air "unauthorized footage" of celebrities or "footage that is known to have been obtained illegally."[6]