Burrell: besmirchable?

Amongst today’s news is the story of Paul Burrell’s complaint against the News of the World being upheld. In response to the breach of the Press Complaints Commission’s code in the News of the World’s article titled Burrell: I had sex with Diana, Burrell claimed that the article had "besmirched" his name.

besmirch: attack the good name and reputation of someone.

Surely in order to be besmirched, one must have a good name to attach. No?