Father of former 'Idol' winner Fantasia Barrino sues her for libel
UPI News Service, 09/26/2006
The father of "American Idol" champ Fantasia Barrino filed a $10 million lawsuit in New York Tuesday claiming he was libeled in her 2005 biography.
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The suit filed in U.S. District Court by attorneys for Joseph Barrino charges New York publisher Simon & Schuster and "ghostwriter" Addie Collins of "sensational, intentional and malicious untruths" in the book, "Fantasia -- Life is Not a Fairy Tale."
In the suit Barrino, a truck driver and resident of Greensboro, N.C., denied several passages in the book such as he was unable to financially support his family and pushed his children into musical careers at the sacrifice of their education.
Attorney Kendall Minter said in a news release the suit "seeks to redress these wrongs and restore the integrity of the family members" disparaged in the book, which was later made into a Lifetime television movie.
