Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled [Mar 26, 2023, 11:48 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
A
post on Medium by Chris Avellone announces a lawsuit he filed over sexual
predation allegations has been dismissed with prejudice. He says this has
resulted in his attorney's fees being refunded and a "seven-figure payout"
despite describing it as a "confidential settlement." The post shares what is
purported to be a joint statement from Kelly Bristol and Karissa Barrows, two
women who had accused the embattled developer of sexual misconduct. Avellone
filed a libel suit against Barrows, Bristol, and 100 Jane Does
in 2021 after
their
allegations he engaged in sexual predation. Avallone later filed
another suit against just
Barrows for defamation. The backlash immediately cost him work, including his
consultant roles on Dying Light 2 and Bloodlines 2. Chris goes on
to speak about real challenges the industry still needs to face. He also
expresses appreciation for "the willingness of Ms. Barrows and Ms. Bristol to
work with us in addressing issues within the game community," which seems odd.
He asks that everyone respect the privacy of Barrows and Bristol going forward.
Here is the included statement:
“After engaging with Mr. Avellone, we have prepared the following statement:
Mr. Avellone never sexually abused either of us. We have no knowledge that he has ever sexually abused any women. We have no knowledge that Mr. Avellone has ever misused corporate funds. Anything we have previously said or written about Mr. Avellone to the contrary was not our intent. We wanted to support women in the industry. In so doing, our words have been misinterpreted to suggest specific allegations of misconduct that were neither expressed nor intended. We are passionate about the safety, security and agency of women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ persons, and every other community that has seen persecution in the video game industry. We believe Mr. Avellone shares a desire to protect and uplift those communities. We believe that he deserves a full return to the industry and support him in those endeavors.”
- Karissa Barrows, Kelly Rae Bristol
Interesting comment over at Eurogamer.
JosephJFK 6370 Supporter
14 hours ago
I am a first amendment and defamation lawyer, and I don't quite follow this. If the case was dismissed from California on jurisdictional grounds, that should not have resulted in him owing any fees under an anti-SLAPP law. But to be fair, I haven't reviewed the record, so maybe something odd happened here.
Given how difficult it is to win a defamation claim in any U.S. state, a settlement where the defendant pays 7 figures should not be treated as a big nothing. And while I don't know, I strongly suspect the reason the defendants here said, "oh, we never meant to say the thing we obviously said" is because they don't want to admit to lying in court filings. I've settled cases before with similarly absurd wording so a defendant can save face
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