The hot-button defamation suit Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale filed against Mayor Rob Ford has been….wait for iiiiiiit…dropped.
For those of you have been living under a pleasant, shady, unseasonably warm, Rob Ford-free rock for the past week, Ford all but accused Dale of being a child pornographer in his recent interview with convicted criminal-cum-poster boy for “boomers with Zip” Conrad Black then stood by those remarks. Dale sued. Then Ford offered a sociopathic non-apology, where he just sort of shifted blame around, hoping the whole thing would disappear.
But earlier this evening, in a letter issued on real deal “May Rob Ford” letterhead Ford acknowledged that his “recollection of the event is inaccurate.” The letter goes on: “there was absolutely no basis for the statement I made about Mr. Dale taking pictures of my children, or for any insinuations I made.”
Via Twitter, Dale responded with the following:
I sincerely appreciate Mayor Ford’s complete retraction and unqualified apology, and I’m very glad the truth is no longer in dispute.
– Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 19, 2013
I won’t be taking legal action against the mayor, and I’m looking forward to getting back to work.
– Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 19, 2013
So. OK. Let’s enjoy this brief moment of sanity.
Here’s the letter:
With files from Ben Spurr.