Laws of Lashon Hara / 6: 9-10 (54)

9. It is forbidden to accept lashon hara even when it might not be considered derogatory, for example, that one is not so bright, or that one’s ancestors were sinners, this is so because any form of lashon hara that one is forbidden to speak, one is also forbidden to hear and accept.

10. Even though one is forbidden to accept lashon hara as fact, by all accounts, he should fear that there might be truth to the words, and therefore if according to what he heard, he or another might be harmed by the subject, he must do what he can to protect himself.