Terrell Owens Served With Defamation Lawsuit at College Meet-and-Greet, Responds He Is 'Not Worried'
At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, former NFL wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens was served with a federal defamation lawsuit on November 6 while appearing at the Mocs Bookstore on his alma mater's campus for a meet-and-greet promoting the new Amazon Prime Video documentary "Terrell & T.O." Plaintiffs' attorney Edward Paltzik then posted the service clip on X, writing "Terrell Owens, you've been served"; the clip spread widely from November 8. Owens responded on X on November 9: "Hey Edward. Not worried. God is good."
The lawsuit was filed on October 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi by the fathers of three young men, friends of Nolan Wells. Wells, 18, went missing during a July Fourth outing with friends to Horn Island, Mississippi, and was later found dead. According to Front Office Sports, a Mississippi grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the three friends; reports have named them as Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour.
The complaint centers on a September 26 social media post by Owens, in which he linked to an Instagram video from the online talk show "The Trent Out Loud Show" and wrote "ARREST THEM IMMEDIATELY!! LIKE YESTERDAY!!", calling for the arrest of the three friends as well as Mississippi District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath.
The complaint describes Owens' post as "false and malicious" and says it contains a "devastating and far-reaching defamatory statement" about the plaintiffs. "Nolan's death was accidental and involved no criminal activity," the suit says, adding that there was no evidence or probable cause to arrest the three because they had done nothing wrong. The suit brings counts of defamation per se and false light invasion of privacy. Paltzik, who represents the plaintiffs, told Front Office Sports that Owens had been evading service of the lawsuit.
Being served is a procedural step in a civil case; it does not mean a court has found defamation occurred. The complaint's claims remain allegations, and the case has yet to be heard. GSM does not reproduce the viral service clip; the account above follows the complaint as reported and both sides' public posts on X.
Source: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Terrell Owens资料图，2017年5月2日摄（Collision Conf摄，CC BY 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons），非事发现场画面。/ File photo: Terrell Owens on May 2, 2017 (by Collision Conf, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons); not a photo from the incident.
