The High Court here today ordered rapper Caprice to immediately remove all alleged defamatory posts about a businessman from his Instagram account.
Justice Ahmad Shahrir Salleh made the ruling after allowing an ad-interim injunction sought by R Jeyenderan, 50, against Caprice, whose real name is Ariz Ramli, 39, as the sole defendant.
The court also restrained Caprice from making further statements about the plaintiff pending the hearing of the inter partes injunction. The posts were uploaded last month.
The order was confirmed by Jeyenderan’s lawyers V Muniandy, Fiona Aurelia Culas and Afiq Yahawa, as well as Caprice’s counsel, Megat Syazlee Mokhtarom, when contacted by Bernama.
Jeyenderan, who is CEO of a shipping company, filed the suit on July 21, claiming that the defendant had uploaded several posts on July 10, including photographs and videos of him, on Instagram, allegedly linking him to criminal activities, gangsterism and armed threats, without any credible evidence.
Based on his statement of claim, the impugned posts were intended to create suspicion, public hatred and social pressure against him, and that the defendant had never contacted him or his representatives to seek verification or clarification before publishing such serious allegations.
He contended that the defendant’s actions clearly demonstrated no intent to provide fair and accurate information, but rather to tarnish his name and reputation, noting that the defendant commanded significant influence on Instagram with over 1.5 million followers.
As a result of the publications, Jeyenderan alleged that his reputation as a global shipping and maritime expert had been damaged, and claimed he suffered special damages amounting to RM1 million after losing several keynote speaking contracts in Dubai, Turkey and India.
On July 15, his solicitors issued a letter of demand to Caprice outlining several demands, which he subsequently rejected through Messrs Megat Iqbal & Co.
The plaintiff is seeking RM3 million in damages for reputational harm, special damages, general damages and exemplary damages, along with costs and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
He is also applying for an injunction to prevent Caprice from making further defamatory statements, to compel the removal of all defamatory content, and for the defendant to issue a public apology across all social media accounts owned or controlled by him.
