Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns sues The Sunday Telegraph for defamation over brothel story
Rocker Daniel Johns is suing Australia’s best-read newspaper over a story that claimed he was a regular at a Sydney brothel.
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Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns has filed a defamation claim over a newspaper story claiming a “notorious bondage dungeon” had become his “second home”.
In a lengthy statement posted on Facebook, the Aussie musician said he had never been to, nor heard of Sydney brothel the Kastle — which The Sunday Telegraph described as specialising in “brown showers” and “adult babies”.
Johns said the false claims “splashed across the front page” were “humiliating” and he was seeking legal action to vindicate his reputation.
Johns has taken legal action against the paper, its editor Mick Carroll and reporter Amy Harris, who wrote the August 11 article.
In the statement, Johns complained about his picture being “splashed across the front page”.
“According to the newspaper, it was a photograph of me leaving a brothel called The Kastle, which the article described as specialising in bondage, S&M, ‘brown showers’ and ‘adult babies’,” he said.
“The article stated that I am there so frequently that it has become my second home, spending up to 18 hours a day there for the previous two weeks.
“Additionally, it was stated that staff and patrons were ‘fed up’ with me, and I was full of venom and anger.
“The article was simply untrue.”
Johns said the story was “very hurtful, humiliating, and damaging to me and my family”.
On the day the article appeared, the club’s owner, Mistress Scarlett, aka Debra Starr, tweeted that Johns had not attended the club.
“In response to today’s Daily Telegraph article, we state that Daniel Johns was not on the premises nor has been previously,” she wrote.
In response to today’s Daily Telegraph article, we state that Daniel Johns was not on the premises nor has been previously. We’re unsure of the source of this false information. In our 30 year history, we’ve never revealed the identity of clients and take privacy very seriously.
— Mistress Scarlett (@TheKastleSydney) August 11, 2019
“We’re unsure of the source of this false information. In our 30-year history, we’ve never revealed the identity of clients and take privacy very seriously.”
In the Facebook post, Johns claims he was never approached for comment before the story was published, and when he asked the paper for a retraction and correction, it did not comply.
The Sunday Telegraph is published by News Corp Australia, which also publishes news.com.au.
The paper declined to comment.
Originally published as Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns sues The Sunday Telegraph for defamation over brothel story