Report: Florida Newspaper Feels The Wrath Of RUSH Fans

January 18, 2004

Phil Lewis of Florida's Naples Daily News is reporting that John Henderson, the reporter handling the newspaper's police beat New Year's Day, was roundly criticized via e-mail for taking the address of RUSH guitarist Alex Lifeson's North Naples condominium from booking sheets and including it in the story about Lifeson's arrest following a bloody tussle during a New Year's Eve celebration at one of Naples' two Ritz-Carlton hotels.

"You scumsucking pig," was the opening of one e-mail received by Henderson.

"How dare you give out a rock star's address to the public. I hope you get punished for your stupidity you (expletive)." It was signed "An Irate RUSH Fan." A more measured complaint followed: "I would like to comment on the sheer lack of taste and absence of journalistic integrity on the part of John Henderson. In his article 'Alex Lifeson of RUSH Arrested in New Year's Eve Fracas,' Henderson revealed the celebrity musician's home address in Naples.

"Doesn't he have any common sense about privacy violations? Did he forget what happened to John Lennon? I think the editor of Naples (Daily) News is equally as suspect for letting this be published, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Lifeson's lawyers teach you all a lesson you'll remember." We're certain Mr. Lifeson's lawyers have more pressing duties. In Florida, the name, age and address of people arrested are a matter of public record, meaning the law requires such information to be available to anyone who requests it.

One RUSH fan pointed out to us that just because the information is public record doesn't mean the newspaper has to print it. Read more.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).