Metal Anarchy

Falling In Reverse’s Ronnie Radke has filed a lawsuit against music critic Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop). The singer made the move after accusing Fantano of defamation.

Radke decided to take legal action after taking issue with Fantano’s “This Guy Sucks” video. That clip finds the critic blasting Radke‘s music and him as a person in general. Among the things brought up were various allegations in which Radke was accused of domestic violence, sexual assault, transphobia, and racism. Rock Feed shared portions of the lawsuit, which said the following:

“Fantano‘s nearly eight-minute verbal tirade regarding Radke——whom the defendant does not know and has never even met——goes beyond the bounds of permissible commentary and extends into the realm of actionable innuendo, unfounded rumormongering and outright untruth.”

The complaint went on to say that Radke made multiple requests to have the video removed, but Fantano refused. Radke also claimed that Fantano‘s comments combined with the various headlines, excerpts, social media posts, and allegations shared in the clip resulted in something that can only be seen as misleading and defamatory. This includes the mention of an alleged physical assault incident, which Fantano allegedly equated to sexual assault.

The suit also brought up the fact that Fantano chose to leave out legal resolutions that ended with Radke winning:

“Fantano acted with malice aforethought and/or engaged in fraud, malice and/or oppression. Because Fantano published his statements with common law malice, Radke also seeks punitive damages in a total amount to be prove at trial.”

The complaint also added:

“Fantano knew at the time he made the defamatory statements that they were false, or acted with reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of his statements.”

A case management conference is currently scheduled for December 18. Radke is reportedly seeking punitive damages in an amount to be determined by trial.