We all love to focus on the extravagant lives of celebrities, but how about the mundane aspects of their lives, like insurance? It might surprise you that many well-known people have used their homeowners insurance policies to provide coverage for defamation claims. With the rising use of social media, and the attendant risk of defamation claims, people should understand what coverage is offered by their homeowners insurance policies.

What is Defamation?

Depending on the jurisdiction, defamation usually is a false statement made to a third-party that results in some harm to the reputation of another in the community—whether intentionally or negligently communicated to the third-party. Defamation may be spoken (slander) or written (libel). Under the First Amendment, a public figure may not recover damages for defamation “unless clear and convincing evidence proves that a false and defamatory statement was published with ‘actual malice’—that is, with knowledge that [the statement] was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” See N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 280 (1964).

Social media is ubiquitous. When there is no face-to-face communication, it is easy to fire off a tweet or TikTok rant in the heat of the moment. That tweet or rant may end up subjecting you to a defamation claim if it contains a false statement. While opinions are not defamatory, statements dressed up as opinions may be actionable. For example, “My neighbor is not very...

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