Christopher Knight
Christopher Knight has lashed out at the "lazy" journalism that incorrectly linked him to an assault and battery case.
The Brady Bunch star was caught up in a legal spat after he was falsely accused of an attack on an accountant earlier this week (beg03Jan11) - but the reports had the wrong Chris Knight.
And now the TV star has attacked the reporters behind the false story, insisting they should have done their job better.
In a statement issued to HollyScoop.com, he writes, "As this story relates to me, it is completely and utterly bogus.
"I don’t know (accountant) Charlie Netel. I have never had a relationship, professional or otherwise, with a Charlie Netel. I’ve never been a client of a Charlie Netel. I’ve never hired a Charlie Netel.
"Additionally I’m not being sued by anyone, least a person by the name of Charlie Netel. That said, who is Charlie Netel and why is he causing me to utter his name over and over?
"If I’m to believe the accuracy of recent reports, Mr. Netel is either a business manager or accountant who was assaulted by someone named Chris Knight.
"If I’m to guess, this information was either gained from painstaking and professional courthouse dumpster-diving, or from aggressively blind and journalistically dilettantish Web searching.
"Either way, the identity concluded and reported as the aggressor in this story is wrong. All that I have in common with the supposed aggressor is in name (sic).
"It is amazing to me that a major international publication would run a potentially libellous story such as this without at least making sure of the identity of the participants.
"I would hope that they check facts and care to be correct in their reporting. At least that the person(s) they are reporting on IS (are) THE ACTUAL person(s), and not someone sharing the same namesake.
"Everyone who knows me knows that this type of behavior is completely out of character for me - it is simply not my style.
"I feel that it’s not just deplorable that such baseless allegations can fly in the media without so much as credible and mature research; but more importantly this kind of Google search reporting and assumptive analysis is a root cause of the fundamental disconnect intelligent rational people are having with the 24/7 Now’s cycle.
"Just because the news says it... no longer means it’s true. I guess ratings are more important than truth...
"I ask that those calling themselves reporters of and in the entertainment industry leave me out of your ratings hunt."