Iván and Simona Aguilera, the son and daughter-in-law of Juan Gabriel, the Mexican music icon who died last year, are accusing Univision and Telemundo networks of reporting “fictitious, defamatory stories” about them stemming from broadcast and published accounts of Joao Aguilera, a man claiming to be a secret biological son of the late superstar. Iván and Simona Aguilera today filed a $100 million defamation suit against Defendants Univision Communications, Inc., Univision reporter Borja Voces, Telemundo Network Group LLC, Telemundo Media LLC, Joao Aguilera (Juan Gabriel’s alleged biological son), Consuelo Rosales (mother of Joao), Alberto Gómez (alleged friend of Juan Gabriel) and attorney Annalie Alvarez, who represents Joao. Filed in Miami-Dade court early this morning, the suit lists multiple Univision stories starting in October of last year with translated titles such as, “We introduce Joao Gabriel Alberto Aguilera, Juan Gabriel’s new secret son” (October 26, 2016) “Unrecognized biological son of Juan Gabriel accuses the heir Ivan Aguilera of theft” (April 3, 2017) and “Why didn’t Juan Gabriel reveal the mysteries of his double life?” (May 7, 2017). In the document, the Aguileras state Joao was not part of Juan Gabriel’s family or participate in any family functions while the singer was alive, waiting more than 25 years, until he died to reveal his supposed relationship to Juan Gabriel. “Joao has come forward in the press and the courts to make a dubious posthumous claim that Gabriel was his biological father.” They accuse Univision of becoming “Joao’s mouthpiece, publishing and broadcasting a series of reports which publicize Joao’s paternity claim and repeat the false and defamatory charges….”

Source: Forbes May 22, 2017 21:07 UTC