Even Face to Face Is Forbidden

Many people think that the prohibition of lashon hara applies only when we speak behind someone's back. The Chofetz Chaim teaches that the Torah forbids it in every form, even when it is true. A person might be careful to speak only in private and feel that he is avoiding the problem. But the Chofetz Chaim says that even if the speaker would say the same thing to the person's face, or does say it to his face, it is still lashon hara. In one way it is even worse, since the speaker dresses himself in brazenness and chutzpah, stirs up more quarrels, and often ends up embarrassing the other person in public. The prohibition is therefore not about being caught. It is about what the words do to the one who speaks and to the one who is spoken about.