Website hit with $11M in damages for posting false accusations about Bengals cheerleader

Website hit with $11M penalty for cheerleader post

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A gossip website has been hit with an $11 million judgment for libel and slander after posting false accusations about a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader.

The judgment against Dirty World Entertainment Recordings, which runs the site Thedirt.com, came Thursday after the site did not respond to a lawsuit brought by Sarah Jones. The high school teacher’s picture was posted on the site along with an accusation she had been exposed to two venereal diseases.

Jones said in court documents that she had to face fellow teachers and cheerleaders after the post went online and explain that it wasn’t true.

An e-mail message sent to the operator of the Arizona-based website, Hooman Karamian, who uses the online name “Nik Ritchie,” was not immediately returned Thursday morning.