读者文摘:一对新婚夫妇的结婚照(2)

Hoping to smooth things over, Polito herself e-mailed Neely on January 14, 2015, asking for their cover choice.

2015年1月14日，波利托给尼莉发了一封电子邮件，询问她们的封面选择，希望能顺利解决这件事情。

Polito says she intended to waive¹ the additional cost,

波利托说她打算放弃额外的费用，

but the couple still didn't make a selection.

但这对夫妇仍然没有选择封面。

In fact, on that very day, a reporter from NBC 5 was interviewing them.

事实上，就在那天，NBC 5的一名记者采访了他们。

They had sent the station an e-mail with the subject line

他们给电视台发了一封电子邮件，主题是：

"Help us get our wedding photos we paid for."

“帮我们得到花钱买的结婚照。”

The segment aired two days later.

这段视频在两天后播出。

It showed the Moldovans saying that

按照摩尔多瓦夫妇的说法，

Polito had "cheated" and "scammed" them and that she "blatantly² stole money while holding [their] pictures ransom³ and then adding on extra fees."

波利托对他们进行了“欺诈”和“欺骗”，她“公然偷钱，拿着（他们的）照片勒索赎金，然后再增加额外费用。”

Several websites ran the story, and the Moldovans shared a link on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Neely's beauty and lifestyle blog.

几家网站刊登了这篇报道，摩尔多瓦夫妇在Facebook、Instagram、Twitter和Neely的美丽生活博客上分享了这个链接。

The blowback got so bad that Polito took down her Facebook page.

后果很严重，以至于波利托删掉了她在Facebook的页面。

About two months later, on March 18, Polito filed a defamation⁴ suit against the Moldovans,

大约两个月后，3月18日，波利托对摩尔多瓦夫妇提起诽谤诉讼，

claiming that they had "instituted a public smear⁵ campaign" intended to "harm" her business.

声称他们发起了一场“公众诽谤运动”，意图“损害”她的生意。

The couple argued that they were simply exercising their right to free speech and that the suit was an attempt to "silence and punish" them.

这对夫妇辩称，他们只是在行使言论自由的权利，诉讼是在试图“压制和惩罚”他们。

1 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

2 blatantly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• Safety guidelines had been blatantly ignored. 安全规章被公然置之不顾。
• They walked grandly through the lobby, blatantly arm in arm, pretending they were not defeated. 他们大大方方地穿过门厅，故意炫耀地挎着胳膊，假装他们没有被打败。

3 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

4 defamation   

n.诽谤；中伤

参考例句：

• Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
• The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。

5 smear   

v.涂抹；诽谤，玷污；n.污点；诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• He has been spreading false stories in an attempt to smear us.他一直在散布谎言企图诽谤我们。
• There's a smear on your shirt.你衬衫上有个污点。