Sinead O’Connor and Arsenio Hall are proof that it’s never too late to make amends.
As you may recall, the pair had quite that falling out last year, following the tragic death of music icon Prince. In a message posted to Facebook, O’Connor took aim at the comedian, claiming that after decades of supplying the “Little Red Corvette” crooner with drugs, he was ultimately responsible for his death. “Two words for the DEA investigating where prince got his drugs over the decades … Arsenio Hall. Anyone imagining Prince was not a long time hard drug user is living in cloud cuckoo land,” O’Connor wrote.
“Arsenio I’ve reported you to the Carver County Sheriff’s office. Expect their call. They are aware you spiked me years ago at Eddie Murphy’s house. You best get tidying your man cave,” she continued. But she didn’t stop there. Days later, the singer penned a more than 1,400-word rant where she criticized the Coming to America actor, noting that a truncated version of his first name “sounds like Arse Hole, in a Limerick accent.”
Meanwhile, Hall fired back in the best way possible: by filing a hefty libel lawsuit. Filed on May 5, 2016, in a Los Angeles courthouse, Hall both denied O’Connor’s “heinous accusations,” as well as claimed that the “despicable, fabricated lies,” were a cry for attention. “Desperate, attention seeker Sinead O’Connor has maliciously published outlandish defamatory lies about comedian Arsenio Hall, falsely accusing him of supplying illegal ‘hard drugs’ ‘over the decades’ to the recently deceased music artist, Prince, and of spiking her with drugs once years ago,” the lawsuit read.
Furthermore, Hall claimed that he’s had “minimal contact” with O’Connor over the years; most recently 25 years ago, and that her “malicious and reckless lies” have “spread like wildfire across the media through the United States and the world, causing substantial harm to Hall’s reputation.” By “falsely accusing” him, O’Connor has also put a target on Hall’s back, leaving him open to “hatred, contempt, ridicule and obloquy” and/or cause him to be “shunned or avoided.” Hall was reportedly seeking damages of “not less than” $5 million.
Though we haven’t heard much regarding the suit since the filing, O’Connor recently attempted to make amends, with a retraction statement. On Wednesday, Feb. 22, the 50-year-old singer issued an apology, saying, “I apologize for my Facebook posts about Arsenio Hall to the extent that anyone thought I was accusing him of acting as Prince’s drug dealer and supplying him with illegal hard drugs, or insinuating that Arsenio had something to do with Prince’s death.” She continued, “I sincerely apologize because those statements would be false, and I retract them unequivocally.”
As for what O’Connor’s confession means for the lawsuit, TMZ reports that Hall will file to dismiss the case. If you ask us, O’Connor dodged one heck of a bullet. While an apology is cool, for now, as Hall stated, what’s been said can never be unsaid — many could view the apology as an effort to save a pretty penny and still harbor ill feelings toward the comedian over Prince’s death.
What are your thoughts regarding O’Connor’s retraction? Is a public apology sufficient “payment” for the offense? Sound off in the comment section below.
