UJI 13-1008. Defamatory meaning understood.

To support a claim for defamation, the defamatory meaning of the communication must be understood by the person to whom it was communicated. The defamatory meaning of a communication is that which the recipient reasonably understands it was intended to express. It is what the recipient of the communication reasonably understood the meaning to be that controls; not what the defendant may have intended to convey.