What do Britney Spears, Liam Neeson, Jennifer Lopez, Louis Walsh, Tom Cruise, Justin Timberlake, Arlene Foster and Gerry Adams have in common? They have all been represented in libel cases by Belfast lawyer Paul Tweed.
Over the past four decades the Bangor-born lawyer has built up one of the most successful media law practices in the world and been described as “the most powerful man in Hollywood”.
“I think there was some dramatic licence in that headline,” he protests about the eye-catching claim made by the American Grazia magazine.
“I scraped into Queen’s to study law; but I work hard,” says Tweed, who views himself simply as a humble “service provider”.
At 69-years-old he is showing no signs of slowing down his work ethic.
“You can’t do things in half measures. I enjoy the hunt and if someone tells me I have no chance, then I will throw everything at it to get a result,” says the father-of-four.
I caught up with him, via Zoom, before he flew off for another whirlwind trip to the Middle East - a leader in the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), an area which Tweed says will be his “battleground” next year.
Just out is his memoir, From Holywood to Hollywood: My Life as an International Libel Lawyer to the Rich and Famous, which gives a revealing insight into his high-flying career, his legal victories and his concerns about the unregulated social media platforms.
His move from insurance law to defamation came in 1995 when the Sunday World newspaper ran a story claiming how two leading QCs, Bob McCartney and Des Boal, had fought over the last chocolate éclair in a cake shop in Holywood.
They contacted Tweed to represent them and in a highly-publicised case were awarded £50,000 each in damages.
In another high-profile case, he represented boxing promoter Barney Eastwood against former world champion Barry McGuigan, resulting in the largest libel award in Northern Ireland legal history.
It was after he successfully forced the National Enquirer to publish their 2006 apology for falsely suggesting that the marriage of pop star Britney Spears was on the rocks that Tweed began to attract a plethora of American clients and celebrities on the basis of breaching European libel laws.
“I got the first apology in the National Enquirer’s 70-year history. I will never forget watching on my computer screen how the apology travelled from across Europe to the Far East, Australia and LA in seconds. It was a pivotal moment for me professionally.”
Tweed, who describes himself as “apolitical” and “non-religious”, prides himself in his impartiality and being able to represent people from all walks of life.
“I act for everyone - Gerry Adams, Peter Robinson, Ian Paisley, SDLP, Alliance, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Labour, Conservative, royalty, the Catholic Church, the Church of Scientology...
“I’m an officer of the court and I take the view that everyone has a right to defend their reputation in a fair trial.”
He attributes his success to having “backbone” and “good judgment”.
“I take a lot of risks, and I meet some very controversial people. And because it’s media work, I’m associated with the case and my reputation is on the line.”
Personally, he’s been the focus of malicious disinformation campaigns, had attempts to hack his phone and even been followed by private investigators on a family holiday.
“It doesn’t bother me. I’m used to it, but I always worry about my family,” he explains.
“Now with satellites they don’t need to hack into your emails or bug your phones. I suspect our conversation is being listened into,” he casually informs me.
In contrast to the threats, his client portfolio has brought him some rewards, including movie set visits with Tom Cruise and an invite to Hugh Hefner’s pyjama party.
“It was very corporate at this stage. Yes, we wore pyjamas, plus two pairs of underpants. It’s all well secured,” he laughs.
“This era of disinformation is a big problem. I can see a situation where we could be going full circle and looking to print for truth and accuracy.”
His solution to securing privacy and safety online is, he says , “a simple one”.
“Treat these social media companies as publishers. Then they’re subjected to the same laws and strict regulatory controls as the mainstream media,” says Tweed, who adds he has various cases ongoing to test that theory.
He is particularly concerned by the “threat of AI”, especially to our younger generation.
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“They are growing up in an era when they don’t know what is real or not,” says Tweed, who still has two teenagers.
“I don’t think it’s extreme to say that the platforms, especially with AI coming to the fore, are radicalising young people because they’re getting biased and totally disjointed commentaries on things, not to mention violence.
“This and addiction are going to be a big problem for society going forward. But I don’t think [Facebook and Meta boss] Mr Zuckerberg is too worried about it...”
With many of the big tech companies having their non-US headquarters in Ireland for tax reasons, Tweed believes that the Irish courts could become a forum for major AI litigations.
“It is developing so quickly, and with the hunt for profit all these platforms are racing against each other to get the biggest foothold in the AI market. In doing that, I think they’re starting to take risks and they are going to be vulnerable to litigation.”
He also suggests that in using generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence that can generate new content including text, images, video and more, social media companies can no longer use the defence that they are merely a platform and not content creators.
Following the passing of his mother six years ago to emphysema, he tried to take legal action against ‘Big Tobacco’, on behalf of victims of smoking, but he was met with resistance from the UK and Irish governments.
Now with ‘Big Tech’ in his sights, he has issued a warning for the need to “learn from the mistakes of the past” and to launch a joint approach to tackle these giant corporations.
“It’s almost as if there is fear of offending these big tech companies, but I use this analogy that Big Brother from George Orwell’s novel 1984 has ended up being a representation of Big Tech in 2024,” he argues.
“They have all our data and they can literally manipulate what you see.
“My Far Eastern clients showed me a split screen with identical female news readers. They asked me which one was a human. I had three attempts and got it wrong every time. That suggests they are capable of drawing you to the AI model. The potential of that is mind boggling.”
No matter how successful you’ve been, if your reputation is damaged in any way it can be devastating
— Paul Tweed
With continuous advances in social media, Tweed acknowledges that over the years the court of public opinion is often more powerful than the court of law.
One former client who was placed under huge public scrutiny was Sinéad O’Connor.
“No matter how successful you’ve been, if your reputation is damaged in any way it can be devastating,” he says.
“I came in touch with Sinéad in the last couple of years of her life. I was used to seeing her outspoken in the past, but the person I met was very vulnerable.
In his book, Tweed reflects on the “disastrous” 2019 Newsnight interview given by Prince Andrew about his relationship with the convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which he advised the royal not to do.
“In the years since the interview, I have often wondered whether I could or should have done more to intervene.
“He’s been absolutely destroyed by the media. ‘Naive’ may be the best word to describe his actions. I think there could be another few chapters in that story,” adds Tweed, who tells me that if asked, he would again represent Andrew in the future.
He has represented Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah in the past and is full of admiration for the way she has handled herself in public.
“We are in age where we hear about women’s rights, misogyny and victimisation,” he says. “Sarah Ferguson suffered more of that than any other woman I’ve acted for in my 45 years and yet she keeps going stoically.
“She didn’t get the big settlement Diana did. She’s had to go out and earn a living and has been hammered for doing that.
“Some very charming person, as I mentioned in the book, took a photograph of her in a Tube in London. She was absolutely shattered after been out to a Romanian orphanage doing charity work and got fat-shamed.
“She probably would have one of the best-selling books in the world if she decided to tell her story.”
Tweed praises the courage many of his clients show in seeking vindication. For example, he commends the “incredible backbone” former DUP leader and first minister Arlene Foster demonstrated in her case against celebrity doctor Christian Jessen for a tweet falsely claiming she was having an affair.
“This all came about just before Christmas. I couldn’t get an email for him and had to do an open Tweet warning him to take his comment down. He did an ‘lol’ at me on Christmas morning. Big mistake.
“The BBC had picked it up and they did the headline on Christmas Day. Arlene was under pressure but she kept absolutely robust throughout. The judge paid credit to her in his judgment, and ultimately she got the record damages for a Tweet.”
I end by asking Tweed if former US President Donald Trump has never sought his services. “I advised one of his ex-wives, but not Donald,” he says.
Could Trump be a future client? “Well, you never know,” he laughs.
