Us Weekly retracts Kendall Jenner story, says it was fabricated by a freelancer

Us Weekly Kendall Jenner interview by Brian Williams cover

We may now know what Brian Williams has been doing since his suspension from NBC Nightly News: freelance reporting for Us Weekly. The magazine issued a formal apology to Kendall Jenner and her family today after admitting their recent “interview” with her was likely fabricated.

“The interview was allegedly conducted by an independent freelance journalist at the Saturday, March 14, taping of Comedy Central’s roast of Justin Bieber in Los Angeles,” editors for Us said in a statement. “However, after attempting to reconfirm his account, editors of Us have concerns about the veracity of this interview and the circumstances under which it was obtained.”

In the original story, which was just published yesterday, the reporter claimed Kendall spoke about dad Bruce Jenner’s rumored transition by saying she would love him “whether he’s a man or a woman.” The lengthy story also included “quotes” from Kendall about friends and her goals for the future.

Because of the detailed and extensive “statements” from Kendall, it was surprising when she said it was all made up.

In their statement today, Us said they have retracted the entire story, even though the reporter “continues to maintain that the quotes are accurate.”

When speaking with one of my fellow writers today, neither of us could think of a recent instance when a reporter — especially for a large publication like Us — had been so brazen about falsifying a story about a celebrity. (The recent controversy about Rolling Stone‘s campus date rape story is a slightly different issue.)

However, as for Kendall’s legal options, that’s where everything gets complicated. Although she indicated on Twitter that she doesn’t think it’s legal for “someone and publish it if in fact you never said what was quoted,” the burden on proving libel falls on the victim. In this case, there doesn’t seem to be anything said that would cause Kendall or Bruce to miss out on wages, which is the standard measurement for a celebrity who tried to claim defamation.


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