[user104658]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Its actually a very important point to establish if you are going to go on tv and call someone a wife-beater

He can go after the person who said it for defamation if he wants to - or his ex wife if he's so inclined for saying it to a journalist in the first place. Again all Bruce had to do was clarify the facts (that his ex wife apparently alleged it in a conversation with a journalist, and that he has declined to comment on it publicly). If he had ever flat out denied it she would have had to say "he has denied it". But he hasn't.

"Pals say it's true" is extra information that isn't needed, and "they say it was a one off" is information that isn't needed AND is irrelevant. "Err I am not a murderer, I only killed one person!!" is clearly not how it works - if he smacked her in the face once, he is a wife beater.