Metal Anarchy

Last year, Falling In Reverse singer Ronnie Radke made headlines after filing a defamation suit against music critic Anthony Fantano (The Needle Drop). However, the frontman has since gone on to lose the case.

Radke initially sought 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. For his part, the vocalist denied those claims, while also firing his own shots.

Radke said the following about losing the suit:

“I went into this lawsuit suing you because of this video and all this stuff… I went into this lawsuit, and my lawyers like, ‘you’re not gonna win this.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t care.’ And it’s all for this, man. So Anthony, I know you’re watching this. I know you’re probably getting a lot of shit for being racist, or whatever they’re saying you are.

And I’m gonna tell you right now, I don’t think Anthony‘s racist. I don’t. I think Anthony Fantano said a bunch of weird, stupid shit, just like me. And I don’t think Anthony is a gang rapist. I don’t think Anthony is a domestic violence person. I don’t think Anthony is all those things. You know, what I do think Anthony is?

I think Anthony is a pretentious, insecure little baby that utilizes people for money so he can pay his rent in a negative way. That’s what I think. And that’s what his YouTube has become. It’s one of those things.”

He also added:

“I just really wish that [Fantano] would retract what he said and apologize for implying all these things, but he won’t. Because that’s exactly what a narcissist actually would do. For me, people think that I’m insane, right? They think that’ I’m doing all this stuff, because I’m insecure, like responding to people online. Guys, it’s not that serious. I respond to people online because they say the same things that Anthony was implying that I’m a gang rapist or that I’m a bad person or, you know, sometimes ‘your music sucks.’ I’m just being funny.

The only way I can respond is to be funny to these people. The stuff that you don’t see me talk about, if I’m not responding, those are the things that are making me mad. This video really pissed me off because — and it pissed off a lot of people — It implies to the people that are watching this, the NPCs that follow Anthony Fantano and wait for him to give them their opinion on what they like, they’re not going to go do their research. They’re just going to go, ‘Wow, he really gang raped somebody.’ ‘Wow, he really is transphobic.’ ‘Wow, he is a racist.’

This is why I sued him, and this is the point that I’m making. I knew I was going to lose the lawsuit. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a defamation suit. The reason I did this is so I can put this out, so I can put something out and say my piece before Anthony does. Because you know, Anthony is going to put some video together so he can gain views to pay his rent.

I wanted to put this out and say my piece. So if you’re watching this and you’re not a fan and you hate my guts, I really hope that even if you’re not a fan, you can really understand where I’m coming from, because it’s really fucked up, and I don’t think anybody should ever do that. I would never make a video about how Anthony Fantano was racist, allegedly, you know what I mean I would never do that.”

The accusations of racism Radke mentioned were related to a past incident in which Fantano used a racial slur while quoting a rapper. He has since apologized, while also clearing up some misconceptions.

[via The PRP]