Current Events > Anime trolls tried to silence a #MeToo campaign with legal threats

(+) Yeah! (+)

and got shut down hard

https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/18/20870541/vic-mignogna-metoo-accusations-defamation-lawsuit-anti-slapp-laws

For years, Vic Mignogna has been a missing stair in the anime world, a subject of backchannel gossip and extraordinary precautions by women in his circle. Hes one of the most famous voice actors in the business, but when two of his colleagues voice actors Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial shared their own stories of harassment at Mignognas hands in February, the anime community erupted. Mignognas production companies dropped him; conventions rescinded their invitations.

It was a classic #MeToo story, complete with backlash from an aggrieved fan base. Mignognas accusers were doxxed. Photos of Marchis home and car appeared on a message board that trolls used to organize their harassment, along with the names of her children. One self-described free speech advocate and lawyer took to his YouTube channel and, noting Rial was concerned for her safety, simply replied, Welcome to the Internet.

Alongside the online harassment, Mignogna began issuing cease and desist letters to Rial, Marchi, and others, threatening to sue for defamation and tortious interference with contract. Defending against those claims, even without going to trial, could cost his accusers tens of thousands of dollars a point that Mignognas lawyer, Ty Beard, not-so-subtly highlighted on Twitter.

Its part of a troubling counterforce to the #MeToo movement, as abusers realize that accusations can be silenced by legal threats. Even if the cases are ultimately dismissed, a deep-pocketed plaintiff can drive even the most stalwart defendant to bankruptcy. These abusive suits are known as strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs. In the post-#MeToo era, theyre seeing something of a revival, as people accused of sexual misconduct wield defamation suits against their accusers. Bill Cosby famously sued Andrea Constand whose accusations laid the foundation of his recent criminal trial. Failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore went after his accusers. And the threat of litigation was a critical tool in Harvey Weinsteins reign of terror.

Frivolous lawsuits are as old as defamation law, and since the 1980s, some states have tried to curb the problem through anti-SLAPP laws. A well-crafted anti-SLAPP law offers defendants an early exit ramp from a bogus suit by forcing plaintiffs to confront possible defenses earlier in the process. Instead of dragging on for years, an anti-SLAPP law can bring a case to a close in just a few months. And thanks to provisions forcing the plaintiff to pay the defendants legal fees, it can cost the defendant nothing out of pocket.

Unfortunately, efforts to enact a federal anti-SLAPP law have stalled, so the protections have had to proceed state by state. Many states have weak or ineffective anti-SLAPP laws, and 21 states have none at all. As it stands, accusers may find themselves legally vulnerable simply because of geography.

Fortunately for Mignognas accusers, the suit was filed in Texas, which has the gold standard of anti-SLAPP laws in the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Also working in the defendants favor was the fact that Beard had never actually handled a defamation case before a fact which became abundantly clear when his first cease and desist letters went out.

Rial, Marchi, and others got their day in court on September 6th. The judge dismissed all claims against Marchi, and all but a few against Rial, entertainment company FUNimation, and one other defendant, most of which were later forced into mediation. The basis? Texas anti-SLAPP law.

But while legal protections could stop the defamation claims cold, they couldnt do much about the harassment, which only got more intense after the judge dismissed most of the claims.

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If the accusations are true then fuck him and fuck his defenders too.

However, i do believe these sorts of things should go through a legal process and only be brought to social media if the legal system has failed
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Rika_Furude posted...

However, i do believe these sorts of things should go through a legal process and only be brought to social media if the legal system has failed

So if in one party's estimation the legal process has "failed," they should try it in the court of public opinion?

For fuck's sake.
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Unfortunately the legal process doesn't really know how to handle men being creeps towards women.
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Last I heard he was innocent.
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Duncanwii posted...

Last I heard he was innocent.

What makes you think that?

There's like at least 12 witnesses/victims against him at this point.
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I'm not seeing what anime trolls had anything to do with this. Vic is the one who filed the lawsuit, which you already posted about just a few days ago.

You seem to have a very strange obsession with this guy to the point of making shit up.
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Why did they file in Texas then
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archedsoul posted...

I'm not seeing what anime trolls had anything to do with this. Vic is the one who filed the lawsuit, which you already posted about just a few days ago.

You seem to have a very strange obsession with this guy to the point of making shit up.

I posted an article. Might help you understand if you read the whole thing.
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I think it was less that Vic M has a specific cult but that his PR for this endeavor attracted 'those' people. Like, he recruited Nick Rekieta who deals with people like Mister Metokur
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archedsoul posted...

I'm not seeing what anime trolls had anything to do with this. Vic is the one who filed the lawsuit, which you already posted about just a few days ago.

You seem to have a very strange obsession with this guy to the point of making shit up.

how salty are you that Vic is full of shit and the legal system laughed him out of court

you seem salty and hurt that people are pointing it out
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Darmik posted...

I posted an article. Might help you understand if you read the whole thing.

I did. I'm not seeing anything about any legal threats issued by anyone but Vic and his lawyers. So it's just clickbait.

Still doesn't explain your obsession with him.
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Zero_Destroyer posted...

how salty are you that Vic is full of shit and the legal system laughed him out of court

you seem salty and hurt that people are pointing it out

Where did I allude to anything like that? TC has a habit of being disingenuous and arguing in bad faith, which is what I was calling out.
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archedsoul posted...

Darmik posted...

I posted an article. Might help you understand if you read the whole thing.

I did. I'm not seeing anything about any legal threats issued by anyone but Vic and his lawyers. So it's just clickbait.

Still doesn't explain your obsession with him.

Guess who raised money for the legal threats
archedsoul posted...

Where did I allude to anything like that? TC has a habit of being disingenuous and arguing in bad faith, which is what I was calling out.

I didn't argue anything. I posted an article and you cried over me.
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He was great as Edward Elric and he seems like an ok guy but...

Bro ya gotta chill with the whole getting close to little girls thing. Even if he doesn't do anything it's still weird to me.

I mean look at Johnny Yong Bosch, great as Ichigo in Bleach and Nero in DMC4 and he's a cool guy and also respects boundaries and he's doing alright.
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Alongside the online harassment, Mignogna began issuing cease and desist letters to Rial, Marchi, and others, threatening to sue for defamation and tortious interference with contract. Defending against those claims, even without going to trial, could cost his accusers tens of thousands of dollars a point that Mignognas lawyer, Ty Beard, not-so-subtly highlighted on Twitter.

I don't know anything about this situation. It seems like when I read stuff, it is just so biased I can't make heads or tails of it. So I will speak about this and this alone.

People have the right to fight to clear their name. If he is innocent then he should do everything he can to protect himself. If he is not lets the courts hammer it out.
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The point is that the lawsuits aren't about clearing names. They're about going on the offense to intimidate people from speaking out and to ruin anyone who does.

There's a reason guys like Cosby and Weinstein got away with their shit for so long.
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I've read stories of Vic being a creep for years and wasn't surprised at the accusations. Not assure why others are surprised, but you can probably chalk that up to the certain crowd that anime can attract.

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Darmik posted...

archedsoul posted...

Darmik posted...

I posted an article. Might help you understand if you read the whole thing.

I did. I'm not seeing anything about any legal threats issued by anyone but Vic and his lawyers. So it's just clickbait.

Still doesn't explain your obsession with him.

Guess who raised money for the legal threats
archedsoul posted...

Where did I allude to anything like that? TC has a habit of being disingenuous and arguing in bad faith, which is what I was calling out.

I didn't argue anything. I posted an article and you cried over me.

Yes, asking why you're so obsessed with this guy to the point of making topics every couple of days is me crying. Sure.
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This is the second article I've seen that just destroyed him his weird ass supporters and the third rate defense team he hired

https://www.cbr.com/vic-mignogna-lawsuit-failed-fan-rage/

The cult that follows this dude and attacks anyone that he sees as an enemy is fucking insane

archedsoul posted...

Yes, asking why you're so obsessed with this guy to the point of making topics every couple of days is me crying. Sure.

It's been two topics. One last week because most of the charges were dismissed. The other is this article that goes into the whole case.

Yet you're here crying about me being disingenuous.
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Axiom posted...

This is the second article I've seen that just destroyed him his weird ass supporters and the third rate defense team he hired

https://www.cbr.com/vic-mignogna-lawsuit-failed-fan-rage/

The cult that follows this dude and attacks anyone that he sees as an enemy is fucking insane

I wouldn't doubt many of them engaged in similar behaviors (requesting hugs from girls at cons and the like) without considering the implications or how it looks from the perspective of the girls. So when confronted with the view of others, that maybe it's creepy, they feel attacked when somebody like Vic gets called on it.
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Darmik posted...

It's been two topics. One last week because most of the charges were dismissed. The other is this article that goes into the whole case.

Yet you're here crying about me being disingenuous.

You know that's not the only thing I'm talking about. Several posters have called you out for having a creepy obsession with the dude. Any mention of him and you'd jump in with your long post with pictures.

I'm just wondering what he did you to you that you're going this hard on a relatively irrelevant VA when there's so many other monsters around.
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Darmik posted...

Duncanwii posted...

Last I heard he was innocent.

What makes you think that?

There's like at least 12 witnesses/victims against him at this point.

and way more than 12 witnesses that say he is innocent. most people claim he is a nice guy. and none of the people accusing him have even a tiny piece of evidence

So basically you're accusing me of posting in topics that I have knowledge about and backing up my posts with evidence.

And this upsets you?

Why is it creepy shutting down people defending and looking up to an actual creep?
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Zikten posted...

Darmik posted...

Duncanwii posted...

Last I heard he was innocent.

What makes you think that?

There's like at least 12 witnesses/victims against him at this point.

and way more than 12 witnesses that say he is innocent. most people claim he is a nice guy. and none of the people accusing him have even a tiny piece of evidence

Are those the people sending death threats and dozing the victims, the lawyers and the judge?
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Can't believe anything nowadays. Too much shit at play. I've been staff in the anime convention industry for almost 20 years now and I've never heard a single thing about him or any warnings when I did get them with other guests. I've worked with him several times and he's always been cool.

Like that alt-right icon Bill Burr said, have you seen Star Wars?
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no, I mean like people who have known him and met him at conventions. I remember at least one person who was in so called bad picture with him, later came forward and denied giving permisson for the photo to be used by kickvic and denying that he hurt her. saying she actually liked meeting him and he did nothing wrong in the photo

Zikten posted...

no, I mean like people who have known him and met him at conventions. I remember at least one person who was in so called bad picture with him, later came forward and denied giving permisson for the photo to be used by kickvic and denying that he hurt her. saying she actually liked meeting him and he did nothing wrong in the photo

I'm sure Bill Cosby was nice to a lot of fans too.
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Darmik posted...

So basically you're accusing me of posting in topics that I have knowledge about and backing up my posts with evidence.

And this upsets you?

Why is it creepy shutting down people defending and looking up to an actual creep?

I wonder why you keep thinking me wondering about your creepy obsession with him makes me upset. I'm just curious.

You don't do it for any other person, so I'm guessing he did something to you.
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archedsoul posted...

Darmik posted...

So basically you're accusing me of posting in topics that I have knowledge about and backing up my posts with evidence.

And this upsets you?

Why is it creepy shutting down people defending and looking up to an actual creep?

I wonder why you keep thinking me wondering about your creepy obsession with him makes me upset. I'm just curious.

You don't do it for any other person, so I'm guessing he did something to you.

Champ if people here were defending Cosby or Weinstein I would do the same thing.
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Darmik posted...

Champ if people here were defending Cosby or Weinstein I would do the same thing.

LMFAO. Are Cosby and Weinstein the only things you know? There's a world of people that are defended between the worst sexual offenders and a creepy guy.

Dude, just admit you have a weird obsession with him that you can't explain.
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archedsoul posted...

Darmik posted...

Champ if people here were defending Cosby or Weinstein I would do the same thing.

LMFAO. Are Cosby and Weinstein the only things you know? There's a world of people that are defended between the worst sexual offenders and a creepy guy.

Dude, just admit you have a weird obsession with him that you can't explain.

How many have people on CE defending them?
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Darmik posted...

What makes you think that?

There's like at least 12 witnesses/victims against him at this point.

i have been following this case, watching several youtube videos, and the main point they have against him is that he made an innocent dad jellybean joke against Rial, who took it sexually.

on the other hand, the people at funimation who are accusing Mignona of sexual misconduct have recorded several sexual tapes as DBZ characters.

it is obvious that they are trying to shut Mignona down because he doesnt like their clique

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BlackHorse6969 posted...

i have been following this case, watching several youtube videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1UtRnGn5hc" data-time="
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Zero_Destroyer posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1UtRnGn5hc" data-time="

shut it, jorge you obese donut.

i know that all you like to do all day is watch my little pony and get fat.

so go back to doing that

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Zero_Destroyer posted...

BlackHorse6969 posted...

i have been following this case, watching several youtube videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1UtRnGn5hc" data-time="

That is literally where all his cultists get their info from. Youtube of all places lmao

Whos alt is archedsoul and why does he love Vic so much.
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sktgamer_13dude posted...

Whos alt is archedsoul and why does he love Vic so much.

Reading must be hard for you if you think I love Vic. As I said, I was curious why he's so obsessed with a guy that's not in the mainstream news or anything and that Darmik is well known to be disingenuous.
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I just came in here looking for the usual suspect to take Vic's dick out of his mouth for a second to defend him.
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archedsoul posted...

sktgamer_13dude posted...

Whos alt is archedsoul and why does he love Vic so much.

Reading must be hard for you if you think I love Vic. As I said, I was curious why he's so obsessed with a guy that's not in the mainstream news or anything and that Darmik is well known to be disingenuous.

Man you're still so upset about this.

I know this might give you a heart attack but if nobody else has done so I'll probably make a topic when I find out the remaining charges are dismissed too! Damn lets hope Vic doesn't send a restraining order against me with all of this severe stalking and disingenuous posting of links.
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Darmik posted...

Man you're still so upset about this.

I know this might give you a heart attack but if nobody else has done so I'll probably make a topic when I find out the remaining charges are dismissed too! Damn lets hope Vic doesn't send a restraining order against me with all of this severe stalking and disingenuous posting of links.

Lmao. Again, I'm still wondering why calling you out for being obsessed with someone is indicative of me being upset.

Like my posts are not even replying to you and you feel the urge to respond to me. Seems like you're the one with Vic's dick in his mouth wrt to what that other user said.
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archedsoul posted...

Like my posts are not even replying to you and you feel the urge to respond to me. Seems like you're the one with Vic's dick in his mouth wrt to what that other user said.

Damn now this is the sort of delusion I tend to see in these sorts of threads. Well done.

FYI there's also a topic making fun of Milo Yiannopoulos on the front page if you want to go and have a cry in there too
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Lmao

Of course Darmik would post this article thinking it meant something

You want me to BTFO of this topic again now or later

Already scared TurgidTyrant into posting exclusively on the Anime forum about this
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Darmik posted...

Damn now this is the sort of delusion I tend to see in these sorts of threads. Well done.

I mean you're obsessed with him, which is pretty clear.

Darmik posted...

FYI there's also a topic making fun of Milo Yiannopoulos on the front page if you want to go and have a cry in there too

There's a thread on Shane Gillis. Why don't you go fight all the defenders in there.
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AvantgardeAClue posted...

Lmao

Of course Darmik would post this article thinking it meant something

You want me to BTFO of this topic again now or later

Already scared TurgidTyrant into posting exclusively on the Anime forum about this

lmao wow I thought you'd never show up again after nearly everything in this case was dismissed after you were adamant for months they were gonna win and that Funimation would pay.

Okay. Sock it to me. Was the Judge mean to poor old Vic like I predicted?
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lmao wow I thought you'd never show up again after nearly everything in this case was dismissed after you were adamant for months they were gonna win and that Funimation would pay.


I was in the hospital going into September and told everyone to shut the fuck up and don't @ me about this shit whatsoever while I was recovering. Others understood but I guess they didn't feel obligated to tell you lol

Okay. Sock it to me. Was the Judge mean to poor old Vic like I predicted?

That judge was "mean" to quite a few people in that hearing on both sides. So many things that should've been ruled on or considered, but weren't. Course, with the threat of appeals breathing down his neck it's no surprise this mediation was called while he figure out how to play this.
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I didn't @ you in any topic. I don't roll like that. If you don't wanna talk about him anymore that's fine by me. I don't @ people to be petty over this stuff. That's probably why no one told me too. Hope everything went okay.

AvantgardeAClue posted...

That judge was "mean" to quite a few people in that hearing on both sides. So many things that should've been ruled on or considered, but weren't. Course, with the threat of appeals breathing down his neck it's no surprise this mediation was called while he figure out how to play this.

Yeah I called it. C'mon man. How long are you going to hold onto this. This is playing out exactly as was predicted months ago by the lawyers on Twitter that you also said weren't listening.

Isn't it possible that the two lawyers you're following are the wrong ones and not...literally everyone else?
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Yeah I called it. C'mon man. How long are you going to hold onto this. This is playing out exactly as was predicted months ago by the lawyers on Twitter that you also said weren't listening.


You mean just like how the one lawyer said the defamation claim had a 0.01% chance of being dismissed right away and yet that's the one that's still being deliberated on?

Isn't it possible that the two lawyers you're following are the wrong ones and not...literally everyone else?

Nick hasn't said anything definitive or as certain as Law Twitter on this case; he always said the human element would be difficult to guess and Marchi had the greatest chance of escaping.

Ty underestimated the judge to a degree, absolutely. But he went in preparing for a ball game and the judge suddenly turned it into a volleyball match, so I don't blame him too much for it.

I didn't @ you in any topic. I don't roll like that. If you don't wanna talk about him anymore that's fine by me. I don't @ people to be petty over this stuff.

Some people equally dedicated to your cause certainly felt otherwise about @ing me, particularly during the hearing (including LightSnake and TurgidTyrant) and I got so fucking pissed about it I ended up warned during the entire thing. Loads of mentions and no way to respond. Probably felt empowering and shit to those involved.

So no, I didn't stop talking about this because I "would never show up again after nearly everything in this case was dismissed", it's because I'm not trying to end up back in the hospital because I'm getting out of bed to pretend I give a shit that y'all think Vic did it.

I've since discovered the block feature on this site and have been using it on select people for the sake of my health, so it's not a problem to utilize it here if you're not interested in listening to reason.
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