LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles judge granted today an anti-SLAPP motion filed by Hussie Models and agency owner Riley Reynolds, resulting in the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Jessy Jones against them in February 2022.
As XBIZ reported, Jones had filed a $2 million defamation lawsuit against performer MJ Fresh, her former agency and her agent, Hussie Models owner Riley Reynolds, over an alleged incident after a content shoot last December.
A few days after the shoot, Jones alleged, Fresh began what he calls “a campaign of threats and false allegations of rape” via Twitter, which the complaint also accused Hussie and Reynolds of “ratifying.”
Jones cited a Jan. 18 video by Fresh allegedly accusing him “of rape, numerous lies and other unlawful conduct.”
The following day, Jones alleged, “Reynolds and his agency, Hussie Models, ratified MJ Fresh’s conduct by blocking [Jones] to thwart [his] attempts at contacting them.”
Commenting on today’s proceedings, Reynolds’ attorney Pierre Pine told XBIZ “the court indicated that it was dismissing the case [against Hussie and Reynolds] because ‘the thrust of these claims arise from a right to petition or free speech and because Jones failed to meet his burden of demonstrating his pleadings or evidence allege or show even minimal merit.’ The court invited Reynolds to file a motion for attorneys’ fees, which will be heard and decided in September.”
Jones’ lawsuit against Fresh — alleging that her “reckless and intentional conduct” has caused him “to lose many lucrative contracts and relationships” and that he “has suffered substantial damages, including economic harm (past and future income), severe emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety, worriedness and loss of sleep, all in in an amount to be determined at trial, but believed to be in excess of $2,000,000” — was not dismissed.
Jones, who is currently represented by industry attorney James Felton, told XBIZ that “there are two pieces to the original lawsuit: the first was seeking justice against MJ for making false claims about me; the second was holding Hussie and Riley responsible for MJ’s conduct because they knew that she was not telling the truth [and they] failed to distance themselves from her statements. The court found that Hussie and Riley should not be responsible for her conduct. No rulings have been made as to MJ’s liability and culpability.”
