Cain v. Hearst Corp

In Cain v. Hearst Corp., 878 S.W.2d 577 (Tex. 1994) the Court rejected the false light tort because it largely duplicated defamation without that more established tort's procedural and substantive safeguards. See Cain, 878 S.W.2d at 579-80. Cain did not limit a plaintiff's right to claim defamation from the whole of a publication; it merely prevented such a plaintiff from bringing a false light claim. Unlike false light, a plaintiff claiming defamation based on a publication as a whole must prove that the publication's "gist" is false and defamatory and that the publication is not otherwise privileged. See Cain, 878 S.W.2d at 581-84 (delineating the differences between false light and defamation).