Assange fails smell test

By Erik Wemple
Media critic
January 7 at 5:30 PM

... The initial list contained the provision that “it is false and defamatory to suggest that Julian Assange stinks.” Such admonition doesn’t just arise out of some abstract concern that someday, someone might allege that the WikiLeaks founder doesn’t smell too good. Look at this piece from the Times of London last year, with the headline “WhiffyLeaks: Assange told to take a shower": “Julian Assange’s poor hygiene has played a role in the latest agitations by Ecuador to extricate him from his five-year standoff in its embassy, a well-placed source has told The Times.” Assange has resided under asylum since 2012 in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

More hygiene-related coverage emerged last October, in reaction to a leaked memo regarding Assange’s living conditions at the embassy. “Leaked memo: No internet until you clean your bathroom, Ecuador told Julian Assange,” noted one account. Wording in more establishment media outlets, such as the New York Times, was more cautious. “The policies were laid out in a nine-page memo that was published by a news site this month. (They include directives to clean his bathroom and look after his cat.),” noted a Times story on a suit by Assange against Ecuador over the living conditions.

Reports on Assange’s personal habits stretch back for years and were a component of a book by former WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg — “Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website.” Those reports have apparently upset Assange enough to include the no-stink provision in the original threat email.

Actually there’s nothing false or defamatory about saying that Assange stinks. Or that the Erik Wemple Blog stinks. Or that President Trump stinks. Or that Jane Doe or John Doe stinks. We can do this in America, thanks to our laws. “It’s highly unlikely saying someone ‘stinks’ is defamatory," notes Clay Calvert, a University of Florida professor frequently cited in this space. "There’s no objective, factual measure of what constitutes good or bad hygiene or when someone smells bad. It’s merely a person’s opinion that someone smells bad.” Opinions are amply protected under First Amendment law ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/07/julian-assange-fails-smell-test/?utm_term=.56664296ca4d