Ferlauto

Appellant, Attorney Thomas M. Ferlauto, sued respondents, Jane Hamsher, Don Murphy, Jane and Don Productions, Inc., and Broadway Books, for defamation and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The trial court sustained without leave to amend the demurrer to Ferlauto’s second amended complaint. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural History

Ferlauto sued because of unflattering comments impliedly referring to him in Hamsher’s book entitled Killer Instinct: How Two Young Producers Took on Hollywood and Made the Most Controversial Film of the Decade (1997) (hereinafter, the book). The book concerned the making of the movie Natural Born Killers (1994), which was produced by Hamsher and Murphy, “written by” Quentin Tarantino, and directed by Oliver Stone. The book discussed, in part, litigation that resulted when Rand Vossler, briefly slotted to be the director of the movie, sued Hamsher and Murphy for fraud after they asked him to step aside. Vossler was represented by Attorney Ferlauto, and a confidential settlement agreement was ultimately reached. In her book, Hamsher made critical remarks about the litigation and about the attorney for Vossler, though…