Courts determine whether a statement is actionable defamation by assessing whether a reasonable person would interpret the statement as a verifiable fact rather than as opinion, taking into account the broader context in which the statement appears.
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Defamation law distinguishes protected opinion from potentially defamatory factual assertions based on a contextual 'reasonable person' standard.
Contextual factors such as heated rhetorical exchanges, incendiary language, and artistic expression (for example, in music or battle-style performances) can lead courts to treat accusations within those works as non-actionable opinion under defamation law.
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The communicative setting and genre of a statement influence whether it is perceived as factual or opinion for defamation purposes.