Court orders Eduardo Costa to compensate Fernanda Lima in R$ 70 thousand

The country singer Eduardo Costa was sentenced by the 24th Civil Court of the Capital of the Court of Justice of Rio to pay compensation in the amount of R$ 70 thousand to the presenter Fernanda Lima for moral damages.

In his sentence, judge Eric Scapim Cunha Brandão, using the Gender Protocol established by the National Council of Justice (CNJ), highlighted that the offenses increased the likelihood of inciting violent speeches directed against the presenter.

“The defendant, without having a cordial stance, called the author an “imbecile”, given that both parties are public and notorious people and, inevitably, any derogatory comment on a prominent social media page would lead to far-reaching consequences with thousands of shares and comments then. Although such a note in itself may not constitute a violation of honor, the context in which the expression was inserted denotes the possibility of inciting violent discourse to the detriment of the author, notably associating the post with political contexts that had nothing to do with the speech by the author”, pointed out the judge.

The judge also reinforced, still in the decision, that freedom of expression requires prudence and responsibility.

“As I say, the right to express one’s opinion does not dispense with prudence, or admit bad faith, frivolity or irresponsibility, nor is an offense to honor justified for personal reasons on social networks, notably when the author tries to deconstruct violence of gender that affects women in the most diverse ways in today’s society.”

When determining the amount of compensation for moral damages, the judge took into account the prominence of the parties involved and the potential reach of the offenses on social media.

“Thus, since the defendant committed an unequivocal abuse of rights, in my opinion, the illicit act is subject to compensation. (…) Furthermore, the author is a public figure, who had a program in prime time, on one of the TV networks with the greatest national reach, and the defendant has more than 10 million followers on the social network Instagram and, at the time, more of 6 million according to the document on page 22/23, which demonstrates the greater possibility of extending the damages to the plaintiff. (…) Considering these elements, combined with the arbitration of an equitable and sufficient amount in such a way as to discourage new conduct on the part of the defendant, compensation for moral damages must be fixed at R$70,000.00.

A CNN contacted the sertanejo’s press office, but did not receive a response until the completion of this article. The space remains open for further demonstrations.

Remember what happened

In 2018, Fernanda presented the program “Amor & Sexo”, on TV Globo. After the exhibition of one of the editions of the attraction, the singer used his social networks to publish a series of insults against the presenter, calling her, according to a lawsuit filed by the artist, an “imbecile”, accusing the presenter of leading a program “leftist, aimed at thugs and stoners”. Furthermore, he incited his followers to sabotage it.

During the edition of the program, Fernanda gave a speech about the battle of women in search of eradicating stereotypes. The purpose of this speech was to encourage reflection on the role of women in society and on the oppressive structure that perpetuates prejudices regarding gender, race and sexual orientation, affecting both women and men.

Source: CNN Brasil

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