It's also worth noting that UK libel laws are considerably more liberal than the US libel laws. A statement that would be fine in the US could result in a life-shattering judgment in the UK.
Yup, to the extent that the US decided that it needed to ensure that UK libel law could not be enforced against US writers: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-10940211
UK law is like that too! People have attempted to have US citizens found civilly liable under the UK's (much stricter) libel laws in exactly the same jurisdictional razzle-dazzle as is being applied here.
The glossed-over underlying issue in the linked article is that Britain's libel laws are notoriously hard to defend against. In the US, a comment has to be proven libelous; in the UK, you have to prove it isn't.
I’ll note that the UK has notoriously terrible defamation laws. They’re so bad that Congress passed a law to make defamation rulings from the UK unenforceable in America, just to stop the libel tourism.
UK libel laws aren't that bad for situations like this — if he were sued in the UK, he could rely on the defence of honest opinion and I imagine he would prevail.
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