Another Internet Sleuth / "True Crime" Podcast Libel Lawsuit, Here About Kiely Rodni Case

From the Complaint in Robertson v. Upchurch (M.D. Tenn.), just filed today (paragraph numbers and some paragraph breaks deleted); recall, of course that these are all just the plaintiffs' allegations:

Ryan Upchurch is a media personality, musician, and prolific "YouTuber" who has approximately 3,110,000 subscribers on YouTube as of the date of this filing.

Upchurch began posting about the disappearance of Kiely Rodni, the granddaughter of Plaintiff David Robertson and the daughter of Plaintiff Daniel Rodni, after Kiely's disappearance in August 2022 became a viral international news story…. Upchurch had not previously participated in so-called "true crime" YouTube but began to do so as the Kiely Rodni case became "news."

Kiely Rodni disappeared after a party near Tahoe National Forest on August 6, 2022. In the weeks following her disappearance, numerous online posters began wildly speculating as to "what really happened" to Kiely Rodni. (As it would ultimately turn out, Kiely died of drowning when her vehicle crashed into the Prosser Reservoir and became submerged below fourteen feet of water. No foul play was suspected.)

Ryan Upchurch was a prominent figure in this wild speculation. After Kiely's Rodni body had been found, and after authorities had publicly stated that an autopsy had confirmed her identity, Upchurch uploaded several videos making outlandish claims, including that Kiely Rodni, Daniel Rodni, and David Robertson were "not real" and that the entire tragic episode was a "scam" by Kiely's family to raise money on a GoFundMe website. Upchurch also published images of David Robertson and further published Daniel Rodni's former home address to his 3 million subscribers.

Upchurch has a loyal following of viewers who refer to themselves as the "creek squad." Upchurch directed the "creek squad" to search for Kiely Rodni's vehicle and posted google earth images of Daniel Rodni's former home, falsely stating that he had "found" Kiely's car there. While generating hundreds of thousand views on his videos relating to Kiely Rodni's disappearance, Upchurch promoted his own music, often uploading new music content between videos on the Kiely Rodni case. Daniel Rodni essentially went into hiding, and made substantial investments in home security, surveillance, cameras, etc.

Several "creek squad" members made outlandish videos of their own. One self-admitted creek squad member, named "Julio," made several videos under the moniker "An All American Cartel LLC." Julio posted videos of the Lost Trail Lodge, a vacation resort operated by David Robertson.

In one of these videos, Julio speculated that the Rodni / Robertson family was performing child sacrifices at the lodge as part of a religious cult. Several creek squad members flooded the Lodge's internet profiles with negative online reviews. The negative attention directed to David Robertson and his lodge caused him to suffer financial losses.

David Robertson and Daniel Rodni have each experienced extreme emotional distress attributable to Upchurch's postings, compounding their already profound grief at the tragic loss of their granddaughter and daughter.

This lawsuit seeks to hold Upchurch accountable for his tortious actions and intentional misconduct, as outlined below….

For a similar (but, of course, different) case, see University of Idaho Murders Yield Libel Lawsuit Against "Internet Sleuth."

Comments

[John F. Carr]

The counts are titled: Defamation, false light invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The plaintiffs, residents of California, want to apply California law to the actions of the defendant who resides in Tennessee. The complained alleges, "Suit is timely filed pursuant to a tolling agreement agreed to by all parties on February 13, 2023."

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

I've often wondered about what drives kooks like this. I understand JFK and UFO conspiracy theories, governments invite it by their crazy actions (why are all the JFK files secret for so long; why hide UFO videos and pictures).

But to go after ordinary people like this makes no sense. It's like they just want the limelight and will lie as much as it takes. I do not understand that.

[Magister]

Three million followers is something you can monetize, so I think it's more than the limelight. It would be a nicer world if only responsible, thoughtful people who fact check carefully got three million followers, but at least some lawyers get work in the defamation lawsuits.

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

I gather his only fame comes from what he still does, and he did not start with 3M followers.

[Magister]

I imagine he got to three million by spouting outrageous click-bait stuff, and makes more money than if his content was blander. Lawsuits like this might just be a cost of doing business; like Stephen Lathrop says, libel-for-profit.

[Youreanimbecile]

He got 3 million subscribers by being a 14x platinum musician dummy!

[gormadoc]

His fame came from being a musician and YouTube comedian.

[Stephen Lathrop]

Libel-for-profit has become a successful internet business model, thanks to Section 230. Cost-free world-wide publishing power for everyone is a new thing in the world. Prior to Section 230, liability shared between publishers and contributors made private editing prior to publication a practical necessity. That successfully prevented almost all such scams until Section 230 took the lid off.

It has become an open question whether even libel judgments after the fact can constrain this and other baleful consequences of Section 230. The Alex Jones case, and the Trump election denial scams, show that scammers with sufficiently large followings may be able to raise money fast enough to laugh off mere legal judgments as a cost of doing business.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Ever hear of the National Enquirer?

How many libel suits did they lose back in the day?

[Krayt]

Forget the rag, but I recall one responding on its cover.

"It's fat!"
[Shows picture of what looks like a pregnant star]
"Her lawyers assure us she's not pregnant!"

[Dr. Ed 2]

Where does mental illness come in as a defense
Where does "public figure"?

Party, accident, if I speculate OUI, is that libel?

[Michael P]

IANAL, but I think mental illness would only go to mens rea in a criminal trial. In a civil trial like this, if it is admissible at all, it would probably only be a (risky) bet for jury sympathy.

And becoming a public figure is usually by conspicuous choice. One's daughter dying in a car accident does not make one a public figure for the purposes of TMFINR or crisis-actor type allegations.

[Dr. Ed 2]

What I don't understand is when someone and a vehicle is missing, particularly in a rural area, why the friends and family don't get together and physically walk the route that they think the person took. Groups of two, one on each side of the road, and walking about a mile, looking for *anything* unusual.

It isn't like a Martian picked the car up and dumped it into the lake, there would have been damage to the guardrail (if any), maybe some broken shrubbery, maybe even tire tracks in the soft dirt. And there likely would have been an oil/gas sheen on the surface of the water, nothing a cop driving by would see, but something a pedestrian well might.

She drowned -- there was nothing that could be done for her -- but I read these stories about people who were in the woods for a week or so, deep enough into the brush or far enough down an embankment not to be visible from a police car -- but visible to someone walking along the road.

[Magister]

You seem to assume that only a mile would need to be searched, that the evidence of going off the road would be visible, and that the only possible damage or disturbance along the road would be from this one accident.

News account suggests that the reservoir where her car was submerged had been extensively searched by police (but was subsequently found by a private group) so it seems unlikely that the evidence from the road would have directed them to her body any more quickly.

[rakesfunnyfarm]

A accident that could have been prevented. As for going after Upchurch their looking for money. Before someone comes attacking me. I lost a child to drinking & driving.

[Dilan Esper]

Interesting that someone would file a tort case arising out of a car crashing into the Prosser Reservoir.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

Oh, dear...

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