SARAH LAHBATI SUED FOR LIBEL!

NEWSFLASH!  NEWSFLASH! …GMA Films president Atty. Annette Gozon-Abrogar has filed criminal charges of libel against actress Sarah Lahbati, GMA Network said in a brief press statement on Thursday.

Gozon-Abrogar, daughter of GMA Network chief executive Felipe Gozon, lodged her complaint at the  Office of the City Prosecutor of Makati on Thursday afternoon – three days after Lahbati directly accused her of arranging “under-the-table deals” involving talents of the GMA Network in a series of tweets.

“Instead of trial by publicity, the case will now be brought to the proper forum. Once the case is filed, the sub judice rule applies and parties who continue to talk about the issue in public can be held in contempt of court,” the statement said.

The statement did not say if GMA Network will file separate charges against Lahbati, whom it has accused of violating her contract with the station for allegedly walking out on a taping of the new GMA series “Indio” in November and taking an authorized leave of absence in December.

Sarah has repeatedly claimed that her problems with GMA Network began after she refused an offer by Gozon-Abrogar and another GMA executive for her to sign a co-management contract with independent company Icons.

In its earlier statement on Thursday, GMA Network admitted that such a practice — of the network’s own executives asking its talents to sign up with Icons – had taken place.

“Concrete actions have been taken and penalties have been imposed on the executives who were found liable,” it said but did not identify the guilty parties and provide details of the sanctions.

In its own statement on Thursday, Icons said it has sufficient grounds to take Lahbati to court but won’t sue her “in the spirit of good will”.

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