Judge Judy sues “National Enquirer” and “InTouch” owner, alleging defamation over Menendez brothers stories

TV personality Judy Sheindlin says false articles about her have made her a target of online hate.

TV's "Judge Judy" Sheindlin is usually the one deciding cases, but her latest legal dispute finds her in the role of plaintiff.

On Monday the Judge Judy and Judy Justice star sued Accelerate360 Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer and InTouch Weekly, alleging that the publications defamed her by falsely reporting that she was trying to help secure a retrial for the Menendez brothers.

According to a complaint filed in a Florida circuit court and reviewed by Entertainment Weekly, Sheindlin was "floored" by an InTouch Weekly article published online April 10 that bore the headline "Inside Judge Judy's Quest to Save the Menendez Brothers Nearly 35 Years After Their Parents' Murder," and by similar articles that followed in the digital and print editions of the National Enquirer.

Related: Judge Judy brings order — and beauty — to the court with a Suits reunion in all-star Super Bowl ad

While the articles quoted Sheindlin as saying that the legal proceedings that put the Menendez brothers behind bars were "rigged," the complaint maintains that the publications "entirely misquoted" their source material. The complaint traces the remarks back to the Fox Nation docuseries Menendez Brothers: Victims or Villains and attributes them to Judi Zamos, an alternate juror in the Menendez trial.

Sheindlin alleges that the shoddy reporting damaged her good name. "In one fell swoop," the complaint says, "Judge Sheindlin's lifetime-cultivated reputation has taken a body blow in the form of an account replete with 'facts' diminishing her to a rube, a fool — or worse." According to the filing, Sheindlin became the subject of online "reproach and humiliation."

Related: Former Judge Judy guest accused of kidnapping, imprisoning woman inside his garage

In a statement provided to EW on Monday, Sheindlin said, "When you fabricate stories about me in order to make money for yourselves with no regard for the truth or the reputation I've spent a lifetime cultivating, it's going to cost you. When you've done it multiple times, it's unconscionable and will be expensive. It has to be expensive so that you will stop."

Accelerate360 didn't respond to EW's request for comment.

Sheindlin's lawsuit comes 28 years after brothers Lyle and Eric Menedez were convicted of murdering their parents, José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menedez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers faced three different trials, which were widely publicized. Both brothers alleged in court that they had been abused and had acted in self-defense, but they were ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Related: Judge Judy bailiff on surprise absence: 'She didn't ask me' to be on the new show

Sheindlin has tangled with the National Enquirer in the past: In 2017, the publication retracted and apologized for articles which falsely said that she was battling Alzheimer's disease and depression, that she cheated on her husband, and that her daughter faced jail time for refusing to serve on a jury.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Sheindlin is still known as Judge Judy, of course, but her series of that name ended in 2021, after 25 seasons. Her Judy Justice now streams on Amazon Freevee and Prime Video, and is slated to hit syndication in the fall.

Her newer series won a Daytime Emmy in 2022, for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program. It's been nominated three more times in that category and once in the category of Daytime Personality — Daily.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.