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Wiktionary
public figure

n. A famous person whose life is the subject of public interest.

WordNet
public figure

n. a well-known or notable person; "they studied all the great names in the history of France"; "she is an important figure in modern music" [syn: name, figure]

Wikipedia
Public figure

In United States law, public figure is a term applied in the context of defamation actions (libel and slander) as well as invasion of privacy. A public figure (such as a politician, celebrity, or business leader) cannot base a lawsuit on incorrect harmful statements unless there is proof that the writer or publisher acted with actual malice (knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth). The burden of proof in defamation actions is higher in the case of a public figure.

The controlling precedent in the United States was set in 1964 by the United States Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. It is considered a key decision in supporting the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

A fairly high threshold of public activity is necessary to elevate people to public figure status. Typically, they must either be:

  • a public figure, either a public official or any other person pervasively involved in public affairs, or
  • a limited purpose public figure, meaning those who have "thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved." A "particularized determination" is required to decide whether a person is a limited purpose public figure, which can be variously interpreted:

Usage examples of "public figure".

Tenoctris was an unworldly person, a scholar rather than a public figure.

When a rich, important man, a public figure, is brutally killed, you wouldn't believe the kind of pressure we get from the Home Office, gentlemen.

He had complained before that they had allowed him to become a public figure.

When Jesus became a public figure, he was talked about and discussed as perhaps no other person in his day.

I never knew him personally, of course, but he was a public figure for many years, a magnetic leader whose ideals were by no means self-evidently evil.

It took strength to deal with people, strength to acknowledge herself as first sol, strength to be the public figure she could not help being.