熊海靈 wins appeal after being sued over post implying 高鈞鈞 belonged to fraud family

Veteran entertainer Xiong Hailing has won an appeal in a defamation case brought by livestreamer Kao Chun-chun over comments published on YouTube.

Kao sued for NT$500,000 in emotional damages after Xiong described her as having “many outrageous acts” and said she was “actually a family member of an NT$840 million fraud group.” A lower court had ordered Xiong to pay NT$60,000.

The Taipei court’s appellate ruling overturned that decision and found Xiong not liable. The case is now final. The court said the comments were matters open to public scrutiny and that Xiong had a sufficient basis for checking the information before publishing them.

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Many outrageous acts.

Xiong argued that Kao had repeatedly made false accusations and insulting remarks about her during livestreams, then filed civil and criminal cases that were ultimately dismissed or dropped. She said her criticism of Kao’s conduct fell within self-defense and rebuttal.

Regarding the reference to the NT$840 million fraud group, Xiong pointed to Kao’s uncle, Ling Chih-cheng, and his partner, Tseng Pei-jung. The two had previously been involved in a medical-aesthetics investment fraud case. The appellate court noted that Kao had acknowledged Ling was her uncle in another proceeding, while court findings and media reports had linked the pair to soliciting investments and allegedly collecting about NT$840 million through medical-clinic investments.

The court concluded that Xiong had fulfilled her duty to verify the relevant facts and that her comments did not exceed the limits of reasonable criticism. It therefore set aside the first ruling, cleared her of the payment, and closed the case.

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Actually a family member of an NT$840 million fraud group.