Eddie Murphy drops lawsuit against National Enquirer regarding him and transvestite prostitute

Jet, August 18, 1997

Eddie Murphy recently dropped his $5 million lawsuit against the tabloid publication, The National Enquirer, regarding the publication of stories about him and a transvestite prostitute he encountered in West Hollywood, CA.

In a May issue, the tabloid ran a story with the headline: "Eddie Murphy's Secret Sex Life: His Transvestite Hooker Tells All." That story detailed Murphy's alleged encounters with transvestite prostitutes.

Arnold Robinson, a spokesman for Murphy, said the legendary comic was dropping the lawsuit after he determined that the Enquirer "did not publish its article about Mr. Murphy with malice or recklessness." Murphy had contended that the reporters for The Enquirer and The Globe knew their articles were not true. Reportedly, Murphy settled out of court with The Globe. The Enquirer will not make any payments to Murphy.

In fact, according to some reports, Murphy agreed to pay The Enquirer's legal fees. Steve Coz, editor of the tabloid paper, told the USA Today: "We believed in our Murphy story from the beginning. It's great to get a check from Eddie Murphy."

Murphy's statement said "He is still pursuing his slander claims against other individuals not affiliated with the National Enquirer. The National Enquirer has not and will not cooperate with Mr. Murphy in his efforts to pursue claims against these individuals."

On May 2, Murphy was pulled over by law enforcement officials in West Hollywood after he picked up Atisone Seiuli, 20. He claimed that he was only being a good samaritan and had no intention of utilizing the services of Seiuli.