Papa Knowles has filed a defamation lawsuit against The Sun. The UK tabloid published an article on Mar. 24, 2013, claiming to have conducted an exclusive interview wherein he described a "family rift."

"My daughters and my family mean the world to me," Knowles proclaimed in a statement to E! Online. "The barrage of repeated falsehoods spawned by the British Sun's defamatory article has been exhausting and personally damaging to me."

The article was headlined, "I always did my best for Beyoncé ... fans can decide if she’s better off now with Jay-Z;" and included the sub-headings, "Former manager talks about family rift for first time" and "Mathew Knowles has reportedly not yet met Blue Ivy." Within the article, the writer reports that, on a phone call from his Houston office, the Music World Entertainment CEO said, “I’ve never revealed this much in an interview before."

"No matter how many papers it sells or Web hits it generates, The Sun, like any newspaper, needs to maintain a basic level of journalistic integrity," Knowles continued in his statement. "The Sun crossed the line when it went after my family. The Sun needs to be held responsible for its lies in a court of law. This happens too often to too many people, and it is simply unfair." 

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(Photo: Ian West/EMPICS/Landov)