R.J. Bell and Pregame.com threaten Deadspin with Hulk Hogan’s lawyer

Prominent Los Angeles-based lawyer Charles Harder, who represents Hulk Hogan in his suit against Gawker (with funding from Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel) and represents several other plaintiffs suing Gawker Media, is now representing Randall James Busack (who goes by “R.J. Bell” and @RJinVegas online) of Pregame.com against Gawker-owned site Deadspin. Busack tweeted a link Monday to a Scribd version of a letter from Harder to Gawker Media lawyer Heather Dietrick and infrequent Deadspin gambling writer Ryan Goldberg over Goldberg’s piece on Busack and Pregame that Deadspin published last Thursday, titled “How America’s Favorite Sports Betting Expert Turned A Sucker’s Game Into An Industry.” The letter is titled “Re:Pregame.com, RJ Bell – Demand for Retraction and Apology,” accuses Deadspin of defamation and other offenses, and threatens further legal action if a retraction and apology is not provided. Here’s the first paragraph from the letter:

This law firm is litigation counsel for Pregame.com (“Pregame”), and its majority owner Randall James Busack, professionally known as RJ Bell (“Bell”), in connection with the libelous story posted at Deadspin.com on or about June 23, 2016, titled:“How America’s Favorite Sports Betting Expert Turned a Sucker’s Game Into An Industry” (the “Story”). The Story makes numerous false and defamatory statements about my clients which convey a highly inaccurate and deceiving portrayal of both Pregameand Bell, as discussed below. Your actions constitute,among other claims, libel, false light invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and intentional interference with actual and prospective business relations. Demand is hereby made that you publish a full, fair and conspicuous retraction, correction and apology as toeach false and defamatory statement in the Story, as explained herein.

The detailed claims in there are interesting, including disputes over how recently Pregame took money from sports books, if and how it was affiliated with the other sites Goldberg linked to it, how accurate its pickers are, how much their picks cost, and if Busack and Pregame offered Goldberg enough information to disprove his assertions before publication (including a thorough rundown of the correspondence between Busack and Goldberg). It’s notable that this isn’t a lawsuit yet, and that it may not become one. Here’s the letter’s demand:

Notwithstanding their claims for substantial damages, Pregame.com and RJ Bell arewilling to resolve this matter amicably if Goldberg and Deadspin/Gawker immediately publish afull, fair and conspicuous retraction, correction and apology as to each false and defamatory statement in the Story, as explained herein. Failure to publish same will likely result in immediate litigation and,should that occur, my clients would pursue all of their legal claims,causes of action and remedies, including without limitation compensatory damages and punitive damages.

We’ll see if and how Deadspin responds to this, but Harder’s record suggests he’s very willing to pursue litigation against Gawker and its affiliated sites. If this gets to that point, it may be yet another lawsuit Gawker Media and its eventual buyers have to deal with.

[Scribd]