A lawyer representing Jonathan Standefer, owner of the @MensHumor and @WomensHumor Twitter accounts, sent a cease and desist letter Thursday to parody account @HumorForMens creator @Spergers for allegedly defamatory statements. (The name charged for the @Spergers account was blacked out.)
According to the letter, posted by Katie Notopoulos, Standefer does not run GhettoHikes.com’s Tumblr or Twitter accounts, but rather only registered the domain.
On Wednesday, @HumorForMens tweeted a screenshot showing that Standefer registered both MensHumor.com and GhettoHikes.com in August 2011.
Standefer said his name is being defamed since @HumorForMens called him “racist” in a tweet. Although @Spergers created the parody account, he isn’t the sole tweeter. Multiple people use the account.
“Therefore, each and every time you post content that states or implies Mr. Standefer is a racist because he ‘runs’ www.ghettohikes.com, you are making defamatory statements about him that could subject you to liability,” the letter read. “Moreover it is clear you are posting content on the Internet with the intent of harassing Mr. Standefer and inciting others to harass him.”
The letter threatens @Spergers with further legal action if the Twitter account doesn’t stop tweeting defamatory statements against Standefer.
Conor Civins, the lawyer representing Standefer, did not respond to a request for comment. An email was also sent to the account for @HumorForMens.
Notably, the letter revealed that @Spergers emailed @MensHumor and said he would stop tweeting if they paid him $2,000.
“Your conduct is clearly actionable,” the letter read.
Reaction regarding the lawsuit Twitter has been mixed, as some think his pay-off offer was in poor taste.
“I was basically just trolling for a response. Wasn’t trying to be sleazy,” tweeted @Spergers in response to a criticism from Jon Hendren (@fart). He has has since deleted his tweet.
“The $2000 payoff I offered them was less about the money and more about them having to respond and effectively own their shittiness,” @Spergers later tweeted.
But, @Spergers thinks the letter is an accomplishment.
“I’m seriously ok with actually ceasing and desisting because it means we effectively trolled them and that’s why I created the account,” he tweeted Thursday night.
Photo by afsart
