Judge throws out David Beckham's $25-mln libel case

A judge in the U.S. has thrown David Beckham's $25-million libel lawsuit against In Touch, an entertainment magazine that claimed the soccer superstar has cheated on his wife several times by seeing a prostitute.

Judge Manuel Real ruled that Beckham failed to show any evidence that the magazine published the story specifically to damage him (i.e., “actual malice).

The Judge also stated any allegations of cheating by a celebrity of Beckham’s caliber would be of interest to the public.

The soccer star’s lawyer, Richard B Kendall, said he will appeal against the decision.

We were left with two hands tied behind our back for the purposes of this motion, he said.

Beckham, now a midfielder for the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer club, claimed that he was actually visiting his ill father during one of the periods of time that he was with the prostitute, a woman named Irma Nici.

The attorney Kendall also alleged that the US magazine made sure not to publish the story in the UK, where libel laws are harsher and would have worked to Beckham’s favor.