Lindsay Lohan And Mother Dina Lohan File Defamation Case Against Fox News [UPDATED]

UPDATE: The article now includes the on-air apology made by Andrea Tantaros regarding the Lohan comment from "Hannity's" Feb. 4 episode as well as the full statement from Fox regarding the case.

Lindsay Lohan and her mother, Dina Lohan, are suing Fox News. The channel's TV host Sean Hannity and commentator Michelle Fields are sued by Lohan and her mother over a comment, which they made about a year ago.

The comment made by the two TV commentators, which was aired on Feb. 4, 2014 on the show "Great American Panel with Sean Hannity," is at the center of the defamation case filed by Lohan. The show was aired two days after the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman because of a reported heroin overdose.

The show was discussing the impact of drug overdose among celebrities and numerous tragic deaths, which had happened in the past due to same issue. The portion of the show where the controversial comment was about who might be the next victim.

"Lindsay Lohan's mom is doing cocaine with her," said Michelle Fields, the show's regular panellist. Watch the show's clip here.

Following the show's screening, Lohan's New York based lawyer swiftly sent a legal letter to Roger Ailes, chairman and chief executive of Fox News, The Guardian reported. The Fox News' lawyer replied to the letter saying that the video clip of the show from the channel’s website has been removed.

Fox News also aired an apology to the actress and her mother. On the Feb. 20 episode of "Hannity," guest host Andrea Tantaros apologised for the Lohan comment saying, "Before we go tonight, on our February 4th episode, a guest made a comment about Lindsay Lohan and her mother that we cannot verify. We apologize for this oversight."

But Lohan and her mother are apparently not satisfied with the Fox News' actions and thus decided to go ahead with the defamation lawsuit, TMZ reported. The lawsuit that has been filed in Manhattan Supreme Court comes about a year later after the comment was aired. The lawsuit claims that both mother and daughter's reputation has been smeared by the comment made on Fox News channel. They have accused Fox News of peddling "malicious innuendo."

In the lawsuit, Lohan's New York-based lawyer specially pointed out the way the Fox News journalists speculated the actress' death due to drug overdose. The lawyer has argued in the lawsuit that such a comment contributed to Lohan's and her mother's emotional weakness, Daily Mail reported.

As for Fox, the channel has issued an official statement regarding the case. "We will defend this case to the fullest. The remark about which Lindsay and Dina Lohan complain was made on live television by a guest nearly a year ago. We removed the segment from our archives altogether last February and also apologized on-air. At that time, the Lohans did not make any demands for money, and we are surprised they are doing so now," says a Fox News spokesperson.

For any comment/feedback regarding this article, please email the writer at p.bhagat@ibtimes.com.au.