In a 1996 episode of her daytime talk show, Oprah Winfrey had a discussion with animal- rights activist Howard Lyman on mad cow disease. After Lyman predicted widespread gloom and doom for American beef from the disease, Oprah said that the conversation had “stopped me cold from eating another burger.” Beef prices plunged following the broadcast.
A group of cattle industry executives filed a lawsuit against the talk show host, her production company, and Lyman, attributing millions in lost business to what they considered false and defamatory statements during the episode. Following a trial, the jury handed down a verdict in her favor. Livestock owners sued her again in 1998. The second case lingered for four years before a Texas federal judge dismissed it.
