Respected music industry commentator Bob Lefestz suggested in a post that Charlie Walk “get bounced” as a judge on Fox’s The Four, after the accusations of a former staffer of sexual misconduct by the UMG Republic executive were published. Now, Walk’s lawyer is demanding a full retraction.
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Last week, blogger Bob Lefsetz suggested that UMG Republic Records executive Charlie Walk should “get bounced” from his role as a judge on Fox reality music contest The Four. Lefsetz’s article followed a public accusation of sexual misconduct from a former Walk staffer, which he linked to in his own piece.
On Tuesday, Walk’s attorney Thomas Clare set the stage for a defamation suit with a letter to Lefsetz claiming that a post was both false and published with a reckless disregard for the truth.
“It was especially reckless that, contrary to well-established journalistic standards and basic considerations of fairness, you did not even bother to contact Mr. Walk before publishing these false and damaging allegations and validating them with your own imprimatur,” wrote Clare in a letter obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. “Surely your readers would have been glad to know what has really been taking place, including a criminal report to the authorities.”
The real reason for Walk’s departure from The Four was not the accusations swirling around him, claims Claire, but rather that someone was sending “menacing” text messages and voicemails, threatening to “weaponize the #MeToo movement” against Walk.
“The scheme involved increasingly erratic text messages and voicemails accusing Mr. Walk of somehow affecting Gilligan’s relationship with Jon Bon Jovi and threatening to leverage the #MeToo movement to damage Mr. Walk, if Mr. Walk did not act promptly to repair this disturbed individual’s supposed relationship with Jon Bon Jovi,” wrote Clare.
Thus far, the usually outspoken Lefsetz has not commented.