Gina Rinehart forces TV network to apologise

Channel Nine has been forced onto the back foot because of their mini-series House of Hancock after a lawsuit between Nine and mining magnate Gina Rinehart settled out of court.

Mrs Rinehart sued Nine for the 2015 series because she claimed, “injurious falsehood and misleading and deceptive conduct.”  She was also suing for damages as well as to prevent the program from ever being broadcasted again.  Also, any DVD release wasn’t allowed to call it a “true story.”

Another part of the settlement was that the program wouldn’t be available to be streamed online and that Nine had to issue an apology.  In their statement, Nine and the mini-series production company Cordell Jigsaw stated, ““Nine and Cordell Jigsaw accept that Mrs Rinehart found the broadcast to be inaccurate. That was certainly not the intention of Nine or Cordell Jigsaw, and each unreservedly apologises to Mrs Rinehart and her family for any hurt or offence caused by the broadcast and its promotion”.

They added, “Nine and Cordell Jigsaw accept that Mrs Rinehart had a very loving and close relationship with her mother, father and husband, and has with Hope and Ginia.

“They also acknowledge the significant contribution that Mrs Rinehart has made to Australia through her years of hard work and dedication and by her investment in this country, to its industry, economy and to the employment of Australians and by her longstanding support of elite sport and numerous worthwhile charities.”

Mrs Rinehart also released a statement saying that the case was never about money, stating, “This case was not about money. It was about Mrs Rinehart standing up for her deeply loved family members to try to stop the further spreading of unfair and grossly disgraceful falsehoods about her family, especially when certain of her family members are no longer here able to defend themselves.

“This matter was not just about the fundamental right of Mrs Rinehart and her family not to have lies and misrepresentations spread publicly about them, but Mrs Rinehart hopes that this matter will lead to the greater protection of others from such unfair conduct by the media and lead our politicians to activate long overdue reform in this area.”

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