The lawyer of a country musician is speaking out after the court ordered him to pay $17.5 million. This was due to videos he posted about the case of a missing 16-year-old.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Let's rewind. In 2022, 16-year-old Kiely Rodni disappeared in California. After two weeks, authorities found her body, determining that she drowned in a nearby reservoir. The case drew attention from country musician Ryan Upchurch. Upchurch posted several videos about the case including one titled "ZERO proof of Kiely Rodni situation being REAL."
"Do you realize that you can be a millionaire on GoFundMe by catfishing people with internet deaths? You could do it fast as f-k. Look at the Kiely Rodni GoFundMe. It's made $63,000 in the past seven days. That's one GoFundMe for Kiely Rodni. If you have five GoFundMe's for each individual person that you catfish, fake a death with, all you need is three people. Three people. Three viral stories. You're a millionaire in two weeks," he said in the video.
The family sued the country musician for defamation, emotional distress, and punitive damages. Upchurch tried to get the lawsuit dismissed, citing First Amendment protections.
Country Musician's Team Releases Statement
His team said, "All of Mr. Upchurch's videos contain the same elements of drama, hyperbolic language, and heated debate that would certainly give the audience the impression Mr. Upchurch was not asserting objective fact. Mr. Upchurch is not presenting his statements with any indication of private and personal knowledge or authority on investigations."
Ultimately, a jury ruled that the musician must pay $17.5 million in damages. Now, his general counsil, Tia Baliff, released a
statement.The statement read, "The freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental rights that is necessary for every free society, and that right is one that needs protecting now more than ever.
While Mr. Upchurch is a staunch advocate for the United States Constitution and the rights that so many veterans fought and died for, Mr. Upchurch can be that advocate and also feel sympathy for a family in their time of grief. It is in this spirit that Mr. Upchurch would like to extend his heartfelt sympathy to the Rodni, Robertson, and Nieman families.
Mr. Upchurch asks that the family be given respect and time to grieve and move forward with their lives, and would ask that the family be allowed to heal in peace. As to the verdict, Mr. Upchurch has no comment at this time."
