IT STILL DEPENDS ON WHAT THE MEANING OF "IS" IS: This California state court opinion is worth reading. Allen and Albert Hughes (directors of "Menace II Society," "Dead Presidents," and "From Hell") were quoted in newspaper and magazine articles saying "Our dad's a pimp," and that their father "dabbled in the pimptorial arts." Apparently, the father-son relationship there is not so good, as Daddy sued for defamation.
The parties agreed that if the statements were false, they would be defamatory. They also agreed that at the time the statements were made, Daddy was not a pimp. However, the court affirmed the jury's verdict that the statement "Our dad's a pimp" was truthful, because of substantial evidence that Daddy had engaged in pimping in the past. Apparently, once a pimp, always a pimp.
Leaving aside the grammatical fun, there's the great footnote 15, which directs readers to Rutherford v. Paddock, 62 N.E. 381 (Mass. 1902), with the parenthetical explanation "proof of prior unchastity of plaintiff does not establish truth that she is whore." Worth the read.
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