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Rinehart lawyers draw upon critic quotes

Update: Lawyers reference a critique on A Current Affair to support their case against House of Hancock.

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2015-02-13_1747A letter sent by lawyers for Gina Rinehart to Nine Entertainment Co. has cited review quotes by showbiz commentator Peter Ford, to support its legal action over the House of Hancock.

Lawyers are demanding to see Part 2 of the miniseries following the airing of the first instalment and statements made by CJZ producer Michael Cordell on A Current Affair.

The letter claims there were fictional elements in the story, and outlined their key criticisms earlier this week.

In part the letter from lawyer Mark Wilks wrote:

“In answer to a question: ‘Did you make this stuff up?’, one of the producers, Mr Cordell, replies evasively, ‘We’re making a drama, we’re not making a documentary.’ The item then quotes with approval a critic, Mr Ford, who describes it as a ‘ripping yarn’ and adds ‘you could not make this stuff up, it’s straight out of Dynasty‘, which indicates in fact that it is made up.

“Given your client’s admissions that the programs contain untruths, and Peter Ford’s boast after seeing the film on A Current Affair that the second program is ‘even more explosive’, and that our client should ‘make plans to go out to dinner’, we have reason to think that the second program may be defamatory of our client, contain injurious falsehoods about her, and involve your client in an accessorial breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

“We also refer to the following comments made by Mr Ford this morning on the 3AW Breakfast show:
● ‘If Mrs Rinehart was unhappy with what she saw last Sunday night, she definitely should go out for dinner next Sunday night, because it’s like 20 times worse about her.’
● ‘They make her look like an obsessed, vindictive shrew. I felt very sorry for her. I actually – I don’t know the woman at all, I’ve never met her – but I can’t believe that somebody could truly be that sour about life, but that’s the picture they have painted of her’; and
● ‘There’s a very final scene in The House of Hancock, if you stick around to watch it, I reckon your jaw will drop.’
“As noted, Mr Ford is put forward by your client itself as a reliable commentator in the A Current Affair segment.”

So far it appears that Mrs. Rinehart’s lawyers are referencing Peter Ford’s quotes to support its case to view the miniseries, rather than having issue with his review.

The letter concludes with a demand for a copy of the second episode.

Part 2 is due to air on Sunday night pending possible legal argument tomorrow.

UPDATE: A judge has ordered Nine to give a copy of the next episode to Gina Rinehart and her lawyers. They have until 9:15pm Friday if they seek an injunction with a hearing to take place at noon on Saturday.

Source: Fairfax

3 Responses

  1. All anyone has to do is search for Rose Porteous in YouTube and see that this series has been massively dulled down from what really happened! It could be a lot more over the top. My main problem is that there is a continuity error with Ginas wig in the first episode… It goes from short to long to short to long again (in the scene where they’re watching the fireworks she has the short wig on but earlier she had already changed into the long wig). Also both Lang and Ginas wigs are pretty bad, you can see the lining at the front – but other than that I loved the first episode! I’m from Perth and this was a huge soap opera playing out for us… It’s fun to see the characters on screen!

  2. Peter Ford has said he’s friends with Rose Hancock/Porteous,so he probably does know a bit of the real story which explains his comments.
    The ads for this just seem so unbelievable that it does look like a comedy.

  3. Considering that no action was pursued against the YouTube series “Gina: A Political Protest”, I take it that that is a more faithful representation of Rinehart’s life and character than that depicted in House of Hancock.

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