Broadbent celebrates with Mouton 1990, ponders film injunction

Having won his libel case, Michael Broadbent now has to decide whether to try to block a Will Smith-produced film of The Billionaire’s Vinegar.

Decanter’s veteran columnist, and one of the world’s most renowned wine critics, has just won his case against Random House.

The New York-based publishing house has settled out of court over allegations, in the book The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace, that Broadbent acted improperly over the now-notorious Jefferson Bottles affair.

The settlement is for an undisclosed sum – ‘not excessive, but enough to buy a good few cases of wine, and to give something to the wine trade benevolent fund,’ Broadbent told decanter.com.

He said he was uncorking a magnum of Mouton 1990 for the dinner he and his wife Daphne are giving their four-strong legal team tonight, at his club, Brooks’s in Mayfair.

‘It’s a great relief, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg,’ Broadbent said.

‘I now have to decide if I’m going to take out an injunction against any film that is based on the book, to make sure the libel is not repeated.’

According to Variety Magazine, the screen rights to the book have been optioned by a conglomerate of Escape Artists and Overbrook, and Columbia, with Hollywood star Will Smith producing. The film is ‘in development’ but there is no date set for release.

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Written by Adam Lechmere