Reuters reports that US Circuit Judge Denny Chin has ruled that Howard Stern can sue Anna Nicole Smith biographer Rita Crosby for defamation, but not over claims that Stern was gay or engaged in gay sex acts because homosexuality is no longer viewed as "contemptible."
Stern is suing Crosby, who wrote Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death, and publisher the Hatchette Book Group for 19 libelous statements in the book, including claims that Howard Stern, Smith's boyfriend at the time, had engaged in oral sex with Larry Birkhead, Anna Nicole Smith's baby daddy.

However, Judge Denny Chin told Stern's lawyers that 11 of the alleged 19 libelous statements were legally actionable, and that while he acknowledged widespread prejudice against gays and lesbians, he did not view them as defamatory statements:

"I respectfully disagree that the existence of this continued prejudice leads to the conclusion that there is a widespread view of gays and lesbians as contemptible and disgraceful."

Way to go Judge Chin! While I think Rita Crosby's book is likely far from the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me god... I also think that you don't get very far in the entertainment world without smoking a few cigars, if you know what I mean.

Also, a footnote: Judge Chin was also the judge who presided over United States vs. Madoff. Look at Chin, dolling out the justice!