STEVEN CROWDER HAS BS LAWSUIT TOSSED
Ordered to pay legal fees PLUS a $15,000 sanction.
In October of last year, right-wing media host Steven Crowder filed a Rule 202 petition (request for discovery) and cease and desist against his former employee Jared Mittelo (AKA NotGayJared). When Mittelo went public with Crowder’s legal threats against him, Crowder moved forward with his lawsuit. Initially the suit was about Mittelo violating a non-disparagement clause but because Crowder knew he would lose this suit as it was illegal enforcement of an illegal contract; Crowder would later withdraw that lawsuit and replace it instead with a defamation suit asking for $1,000,000 in damages.
The defamation suit was based off two messages that Mittelo had sent Steven Crowder’s ex-wife in private.
These private messages only became public because Steven Crowder’s own staff had published a video with these texts in it.
The lawsuit was tossed by the judge because of course.
As I noted in an earlier piece about this legal battle, Crowder’s defamation lawsuit was doomed to fail because, among other things, it clearly runs afoul of the Texas anti-SLAPP statute, the Texas Citizens Participation Act.
As a result, Crowder was found to be on the hook for Mittelo’s attorney fees. He was additionally hit with a $15,000 sanction for filing a dumb lawsuit.
Yesterday, the judge in the defamation lawsuit reached the same conclusion and ordered (1) that Crowder’s lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice, (2) that Crowder be required to reimburse Jared for $43,037 of legal expenses, and (3) that Crowder be required to pay an additional $15,000 in sanctions in order to deter Crowder from filing any similar actions in the future.
You can read the ruling via NLRB Edge here:
According to one of Mittelo’s lawyers, Matt Bruenig, Crowder has indicated he will appeal, and they’re confident he will lose (again).
This ruling is only concerning the defamation suit filed again by Mittelo. The NLRB ruling is still to be decided and will likely rule against Crowder for the non-disparagement clauses and the legal fees from Crowder’s original lawsuit.
We’ve covered Crowder’s recent legal woes extensively. Last year, when Crowder went public with the details of his divorce with his ex-wife, we attended several of the divorce proceedings. In one instance, Steven Crowder’s own lawyer lied and accused us of recording court proceedings, causing the judge to confiscate our phone, but not before the court bailiff went through our phone. He confirmed we were not recording anything, by the way.
Jared Mittelo will likely need additional financial support to deal with Steven Crowder’s lawsuits. You could contribute to his legal fund here.
Gayer with Crowdgay