A rap artist lost a bid to sue media outlets that mistook him for another rapper with the same name who cut off his penis and jumped off a building in a suicide attempt.
The report was picked up by many media outlets.
Marques Andre Johnson claimed damage to his career after a story appeared in TMZ and elsewhere on the above incident involving another Andre Johnson.
Media outlets listed in the suit included News Journal owner of Gannett Co. TMZ and CBS.
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In additon to similar names, both men had toured with the well-known Wu-Tang Clan or one of its affiliates.
Marques Andre Johnson later ended up serving time in Pennsylvania and filed a suit in federal court in Delaware, a state with a two-year statute of limitations on libel suits. By contrast, Pennsylvania has a one-year statute of limitations.
A federal judge in Delaware ruled that Johnson’s career was more closely tied to Pennsylvania than Delaware and that the one-year statute of limitations had run out in Pennsylvania.
