Courtney Love, who was smacked with a defamation lawsuit after Tweeting a series of angry comments about designer Dawn Simorangkir of "Boudoir Queen," has been ordered to pay the designer a sum of $430,000 over the next three years, the first installment of which was due today.
Love hurled increasingly nasty comments at the designer on her Twitter account after fighting over the payment of a $4,000 clothing purchase in 2009.
The case has been watched closely for its potential implications in the Twitter and blog-ospheres, in which inflammatory comments like Love's could be considered common, if not altogether ordinary. Had the case gone to trial, the verdict would have set the first legal precedent of defamation on Twitter.
Following the settlement, Simorangkir's attorney expressed his hope that "restraint of pen, tongue and tweet would guide Ms. Love’s future conduct" to the Hollywood Reporter. Which is just as well, since it appears Courtney has deleted her Twitter account.
