Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled

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
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 11:59
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 11:59
Mar 26, 2023, 11:59
 
That statement reminds me of the confessions during the middle ages produced under torture.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 12:13
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 12:13
Mar 26, 2023, 12:13
 

wait? what?

Who got the “7 Figure” payout. Huh

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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 12:18
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 12:18
Mar 26, 2023, 12:18
 
RedEye9 wrote on Mar 26, 2023, 12:13:

wait? what?

Who got the “7 Figure” payout. Huh


Chris. The accusations were false, driven by revenge and ruined his career and any professional prospects. Some more details here
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 12:20
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 12:20
Mar 26, 2023, 12:20
 
I'm not sure I get what is going on.

Were these the women who originally accused him of sexual misconduct? Or were these additional cases?

I mean either way it seems a pretty horrible thing to do if there was nothing there to accuse him of in the first place.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 12:29
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 12:29
Mar 26, 2023, 12:29
 
Bill Borre wrote on Mar 26, 2023, 11:59:
That statement reminds me of the confessions during the middle ages produced under torture.
Exactly.
Why did they wait over 2 years to tell the “truth.”

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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 12:47
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 12:47
Mar 26, 2023, 12:47
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was never "sexual assault" allegation, no? It was always a power imbalance complaint? That he hooked up with women in his industry that felt they couldn't say no? More like Louis CK than Harvey Weinstein
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 12:58
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 12:58
Mar 26, 2023, 12:58
 
Good. Glad that is settled. Hopefully he can go back to writing amazing stories.
"Just take a look around you, what do you see? Pain, suffering, and misery." -Black Sabbath, Killing Yourself to Live.

“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Purveyor of cute, fuzzy, pink bunny slippers.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 13:39
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 13:39
Mar 26, 2023, 13:39
 
What an odd ending to this case.

We'll probably never know what really happened, but I would still love to know. Maybe after a 10 or 15 years, we'll find out?
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 13:42
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 13:42
Mar 26, 2023, 13:42
 
What? These aren't the assault cases. Several game companies investigated inhouse and found enough evidence to fire him, iirc.
My best guess, is he went after low hanging accusations, after the fact. Afaik, this doesn't clear him, at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Scorpio Slasher: ... What about you boy, what do hate?
Marcus: ... Bullies. Tiny d*ck egotists who hurt people for no reason, make people lock their doors at night. People who make general existence worse, people like you.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 14:00
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 14:00
Mar 26, 2023, 14:00
 
Who has to cough up the "seven-figure payout" ?
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 14:04
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 14:04
Mar 26, 2023, 14:04
 
Right, it's so ambiguous, the girls could have agreed to pay his legal fees.
Then he paid them the $750k, if they agreed to never speak about it again.
Scorpio Slasher: ... What about you boy, what do hate?
Marcus: ... Bullies. Tiny d*ck egotists who hurt people for no reason, make people lock their doors at night. People who make general existence worse, people like you.
Avatar 1858
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 14:20
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 14:20
Mar 26, 2023, 14:20
 
People, this was a defamation case settlement, why are you making up asinine conspiracy theories ?
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 16:46
Jim
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 16:46
Mar 26, 2023, 16:46
Jim
 
Eh, nobody will ever know what happened. But I think it is farfetched that two women would accuse someone for the hell of it. Maybe they wrecked his life, but the same probably happened to them, and I suspect they probably ran out of money for lawyers.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 17:17
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 17:17
Mar 26, 2023, 17:17
 
" ... farfetched that two women would accuse someone for the hell of it."
Really ?.
Women and men have done that for fame, money, power, or distraction since ever.
Even killed, read the news.

Hope Avellone can make a come back.
But continuing to punish someone is so much entertaining than giving the benefit of doubt even when you can't know what ocurred.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 18:12
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 18:12
Mar 26, 2023, 18:12
 
Acleacius wrote on Mar 26, 2023, 13:42:
What? These aren't the assault cases. Several game companies investigated inhouse and found enough evidence to fire him, iirc.
My best guess, is he went after low hanging accusations, after the fact. Afaik, this doesn't clear him, at all. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm going to call you on that, Acleacius. Which companies fired him, and on what evidence?

Techland ended a contract on mutual agreement, and there was no evidence made public of any wrongdoing while he did work for them.
Owlcat said they were disapppointed and surprised, but his work was already done.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 18:19
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 18:19
Mar 26, 2023, 18:19
 
Acleacius wrote on Mar 26, 2023, 14:04:
Right, it's so ambiguous, the girls could have agreed to pay his legal fees.
Then he paid them the $750k, if they agreed to never speak about it again.

That's not how settlements work. That's not how court works. If you pay the other side's legal fees, you've lost. You can't be making this argument in good faith. They literally 100% retracted what they were saying. If you paid someone to go away they'd never publish a "we 100% didn't mean the words we said" statement. They're admitting guilt in exchange for a settlement and dismissing the charges with prejudice, which means that he can't sue them again for this.

This is a settlement so it's not based on the merits, but let's put it this way, the defendants figured that attorney's fees plus a 7 figure payout is *less* than what they'd pay if this went to court.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 18:57
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 18:57
Mar 26, 2023, 18:57
 
I'm confused about what happened? This settles what cases involving Chris Avellone?
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 19:12
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 19:12
Mar 26, 2023, 19:12
 
I hope this all means we get the best writer in video games back in the fold soon.

Every time there's a he said/she said situation these days, the default seems to be go with the she said.

Lying and dishonesty aren't exclusive to either sex.

When did people stop being people in favor of some sort of imagined sex war?

Welcome back Chris! Maybe now we can once again have a well-written game with adult dialog.
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled
Mar 26, 2023, 19:46
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Re: Chris Avellone Lawsuit Settled Mar 26, 2023, 19:46
Mar 26, 2023, 19:46
 
How wonderful, those who have genuine cases of abuse now have more stacked against them because some people wanted to take advantage of change that should have been for the better.
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removed
Mar 26, 2023, 19:48
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removed Mar 26, 2023, 19:48
Mar 26, 2023, 19:48
 
* REMOVED *

This comment was deleted on Mar 27, 2023, 02:10. Reason: Intolerance (rule 2)
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