Joey Ryan Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Accusers
Joey Ryan has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against three women who made serious allegations against him during the #SpeakingOut movement.
Ryan filed the lawsuit in the United States District and Central Court on 9/24, claiming the women made false allegations against him, resulting in damages to his reputation and his livelihood.
Since the allegations went public, Ryan says he has lost upwards of $20,000 in monthly income from his various revenue sources, including live event bookings, merchandise, Twitch, Cameo, and Patreon.
HeelByNature.com has obtained a copy of the filing. The following excerpt from the lawsuit details what Ryan claims to have lost.
1. Social Media and Revenue Loss
As to all of the defendants’ conduct above and below described, specifically since defendants have published their statements on social networking sites, Plaintiff has
- Lost followers on his Twitter account of at least 11,000 followers and is no longer getting 1,000 followers per month as Plaintiff was prior to defendant’s statements;
- Lost followers on his Instagram account at least 8,000 followers and is no longer getting 1,000 followers per month as Plaintiff was prior to defendant’s statements;
Lost venues for his Bar Wrestling promotions, including Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles, American Legion Hall in Baldwin Park and Glass House in Pomona;
- Lost revenues from Bar Wrestling in the amount of $1,500.00 per month from distribution and streaming services and $2,000.00 per event with two events per month;
- Lost revenues from merchandising in the amount of $1,000.00 per month;
- Lost revenues in his Patreon account in the amount of $3,000.00 per month;
- Lost revenues in his Cameo account in the amount of $500.00 per month;
- Lost revenues from Twitch account in the amount of $1,000.00 per month plus subscription shares and tips from subscribers;
- Lost revenues from Wrestling Performance Bookings of $8,000.00 to $10,000.00 per month.
Joey Ryan is looking for the following resolution to the matter, including payment for economic and non-economic damages, as well as have the accusers retract and delete any defamatory statements made against him.
2. Seeking Monetary Relief
Plaintiff, MEEHAN, prays as to the first through eighth claims:
Award Plaintiff $200,000.00 in economic damages as to each of the defendants or the amount lost by Plaintiff as a result of defendant’s conduct multiplied by the months from June 21, 2020 to the date of the award of economic damages;
Award Plaintiff $5,000,000.00 as to each of the defendants in non- economic damages.
Order an injunction permanently restraining and enjoining defendants as set forth in Claim VII including:
- Preventing defendants from making and publishing the defamatory statements or any iteration of the defamatory statements as set forth above and herein;
- Ordering defendants to retract the defamatory statements as set forth above and herein;
- Ordering defendants to direct any, and all, websites that defendants posted the defamatory statements as set forth above and herein, to delete the defamatory statements;
Award Plaintiff his actual damages;
Award Plaintiff his costs, investigatory fees and expenses to the fullest extent provided by law;
Award punitive and exemplary damages against defendants and in favor of Plaintiff in the sum of $10,000,000.00 by reason of defendants’, and each of them, malice, hatred, ill-will, despicable and intentional acts
Awarding Plaintiff such additional and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.
If you wish to read the entire 38-page filing, you can do so here.
This lawsuit comes two months after Ryan broke his silence, uploading a one-hour Youtube video (now deleted) addressing the allegations.
In June, IMPACT Wrestling terminated Joey Ryan’s contract in light of the accusations.
Note: The court filing published the names of the accusers, which we did not publish, as some accusations were made anonymously.
Anyone affected by sexual assault, whether it happened to you or someone you know, online support is available at online.rainn.org. You can also call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.4673 (4673).
