Arsenio Hall Suing Sinead O'Connor for $5 Million for Suggesting He Provided Prince With Drugs
— -- TV icon Arsenio Hall filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit today in L.A. Superior Court against Sinead O'Connor, claiming the 49-year-old Irish singer "maliciously published outlandish defamatory lies" about Hall on her Facebook page, including the suggestion that Hall supplied Prince with drugs.
The lawsuit, which denies O'Connor's allegations, reads, "Desperate, attention-seeker Sinead O'Connor maliciously published outlandish defamatory lies about comedian Arsenio Hall, falsely accusing him of supplying illegal 'hard drugs' 'over the decades' to...Prince, and of spiking her with drugs once years ago."
Hall's attorneys are referring to a May 2 post on O'Connor's official Facebook page. "Two words for the DEA investigating where prince got his drugs over the decades.... Arsenio Hall (AKA Prince's and Eddie Murphy's b****)," she wrote. "Anyone imagining prince was not a long time hard drug user is living in cloud cuckoo land. Arsenio I've reported you to the Carver County Sherrif's office. Expect their call. They are aware you spiked me years ago at Eddie murphy's house. You best get tidying your man cave."
Prince, who died last month at the age of 57, interacted over the years with both O'Connor and Hall, writing O'Connor's smash hit "Nothing Compares 2 U," while Hall, 60, had the legend on his show multiple times in past decades.
Hall's attorneys deny O'Connor's claims in the lawsuit: "The malicious statements made by O'Connor are absolutely false, and O'Connor's heinous accusations that Hall engaged in this criminal conduct are despicable, fabricated lies," the suit adds, which claims O'Connor knew the accusations were false before she posted them on her Facebook page.
"The truth is that Hall never supplied illegal drugs to Prince, and he never 'spiked' O'Connor with drugs," the paperwork continues.
The suits adds that O'Connor's claims have spread throughout the Internet and damaged the host's reputation.
O'Connor has not yet publicly commented on the lawsuit.
ABC News has reached out to her agents for comment, but they have yet to respond.
As for Prince's alleged drug use, as ABC previously reported, Minneapolis attorney William Mauzy -- who represents prominent California addiction specialist Dr. Howard Kornfeld -- said at a press conference Wednesday that Prince had arranged to meet with Kornfeld the day before the singer died. Minnesota law enforcement officials are looking into this claim.
If true, this would paint a different picture of the late singer: Earlier reports, citing interviews with former employees, maintained that Prince led a strictly clean lifestyle. Reps for the late singer have not commented.
