Former Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns has commenced proceedings against Nationwide News, the publisher of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, over a story published last month that claimed he frequented BDSM dungeon The Kastle in Sydney’s Chippendale.
In a statement published by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, John’s lawyers stated he had “commenced defamation proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria “against The Sunday Telegraph newspaper, its editor and a journalist”.
Johns categorically denies all allegations made in the article, which was published in the tabloid paper on August 11.
In a statement shared on his Facebook page, Johns claimed the article was “simply untrue”.
“According to the newspaper, it was a photograph of me leaving a brothel called The Kastle, which the article described as specialising in bondage, S&M, “brown showers” and “adult babies”,” the former Silverchair frontman said.
“The article stated that I am there so frequently that it has become my second home, spending up to 18 hours a day there for the previous two weeks.
“Additionally, it was stated that staff and patrons were “fed up” with me, and I was full of venom and anger.
“The article was simply untrue.”
Johns also claimed the paper had failed to contact him to check the facts prior to publication and refused to issue an apology or retraction.
“This false reporting has been very hurtful, humiliating, and damaging to me and my family,” he continued.
“It is disappointing that the newspaper has not acknowledged this and apologised despite assertions from both myself, and a representative of the Kastle, that I simply was not, and have never been, there. In fact, I never even knew of its existence.”
The legal action is against the author of the article Amy Harris and editor Mick Carroll.
Nationwide News is a subsidiary of News Corp Australia and have not publicly commented the claims.
