Prank in
alumni magazine sparks defamation suit

Two men are suing their college's alumni magazine after an announcement appeared in it claiming that they are life partners and members of the fictitious Gay Rights Brigade. Former housemates Ross Weil and Brett Royce filed a $1.5 million defamation suit against American University in Manhattan and American magazine, the alumni publication, according to the New York Post.

An announcements section claimed that the two men were married in Boston last June and that Weil was the chief operating officer of the group.

The suit was filed August 30 in a Manhattan federal court. Weil and Royce's attorney, Michael Kaufman, said that while running the announcement showed gross negligence, the suit "has nothing to do with homophobia." (The Advocate)