as The Cattlemen versus Oprah Winfrey. On April 16th 1996, Oprah aired a show titled “Dangerous Foods.” On this particular show she had guest speaker, Howard Lyman, a vegetarian activist and an official with the Humane Society of the United States, speak on Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) otherwise known as “mad cow” disease. During the show, Howard Lyman said “mad cow” disease in the United States “absolutely” could rival AIDS as an epidemic. In addition, he said it already is rampant among cattle in America. After hearing some of Lyman’s statements, Ms. Winfrey responded: “It has stopped me cold from eating another hamburger. I’m stopped!” After the broadcast, cattle prices plummeted to near ten-year lows.“Mad Cow” disease or BSE has never been detected in the United States. No definitive links have been found between BSE and a human form of the illness. Paul Engler, owner of Cactus Feeders Inc. in Amarillo, Texas, and other local cattlemen were so incensed by the program that they filed a lawsuit, claiming more than $12 million in losses. The parties include Paul Engler and his company, Cactus Feeders Inc.; Texas Beef Group; Maltese Cross Cattle Company; Bravo Cattle Company; Alpha 3 Cattle Company; and Dripping Springs Inc. on the plaintiff side and Oprah Winfrey; Harpo Productions Inc.; and Howard Lyman on the defendant side. The Nature of the Lawsuit results from the disparaging, slanderous, and defamatory statements published on the April 16, 1996 edition of the Oprah Winfrey Show. The carefully and maliciously edited statements were designed to hype the ratings at the expense of the American cattle industry. In the stampede to win the ratings race, the truth is often the first to get trampled. In addition to lambasting the American cattle industry, the statements disparaged the safety of American beef, and intentionally plac...
