Written in Partnership with Amir Bakian
Could this be the end of the controversial podcaster?
The ruling by a judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court of California found that Klein knowingly spread false and harmful information with the intention to harm Ryan Kavanaugh, a finding which has the same impact as a complete case ruling that Klein intentionally spread false and misleading statements.
Kavanaugh’s success in the entertainment industry and his contributions to some of the most successful movie franchises make him a prominent figure in Hollywood. He has been named Variety’s Showman of the Year and the Billion Dollar Producer, having produced and/or financed 200 movies totaling over $20 billion at the box office. Kavanaugh was also the primary architect of Marvel Studios, responsible for creating the structure and raising $525 million from Merrill Lynch, which led to the MCU and Marvel Studios, as well as such movies as Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers, Thor, Black Panther, and others. Kavanaugh has produced over 20 television shows, multiple live shows including the highly successful Rock Of Ages, and most recently the creator and producer of the Tyson v Jones Boxing Event, with Snoop Dogg, which is the highest-grossing digital live event of all time. Kavanaugh co-founded Triller in 2019, and under his leadership, Triller became the only app ever to reach number one in 80 countries simultaneously. It has over 450 million registered users and Kavanaugh helped grow it into a $2.5 billion dollar company. While still a large shareholder, Kavanaugh left Triller day-to-day and launched a new film company The Quad approximately 16 months ago, which just completed production on Skill House, a highly anticipated Slasher-Thriller starring Bryce Hall and 50 cent. Kavanaugh also launched one of the fastest growing Dog Food companies Dog For Dog, in partnership with Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé, the first one-for-one, with the goal of ending euthanasia in pounds, was one of the seed investors in what became Juno Pharmaceutical that sold to Celgene for $9 Billion Dollars and one of the co-founders of Precash, a digital payment platform which was later renamed Noventus which sold for close to $400 million dollars.
Kavanaugh is also recognized for being one of the most active philanthropists and has received some of the most notable charitable awards and honors, including the Community Champion Award from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, Visionary of the Year Award from the Positive Coaching Alliance, Champion of Children Award from Children Mending Hearts, Humanitarian Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Philanthropist of the Year Award from Variety, Dream Maker Award from the Dream Foundation, Board of Governors Humanitarian Award from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Public Service Award from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Global Philanthropy Award from the Jewish National Fund, Beverly Hills Humanitarian Award, Star of Hope Award from The Midnight Mission, Champion of Justice Award from the Innocence Project, Visionary Award from the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation, Americanism Award from the Anti-Defamation League, President’s Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and many others.
In stark contrast, Ethan Klein has been the subject of controversy in recent years due to his past racist, anti-Semitic, anti-gay, and xenophobic statements and behavior. He has received “strikes” from YouTube, where he was not allowed to post for limited periods of time, was banned from Twitter, and has received warnings from Instagram. Klein has recently been the topic of a number of social media bans and accusations for his past statements, which include homophobic, xenophobic, anti-Indian, racist, and anti-Semitic remarks made during live podcasts to his millions of followers. Klein’s following is particularly young, with an average age of 15-21, making them highly impressionable, a fact that Klein uses to his advantage. Klein has indoctrinated millions of junior high and high school students, calling them his “foot soldiers,” and by making them feel like they are part of this highly powerful H3 community, he uses them to spread his malicious and highly concentrated attacks on social media. He commonly calls upon them to attack his enemy du jour. Due to the sheer number of followers he has, pre-pubescent or not, he is able to “negatively manipulate Google results and to destroy his new enemies’ Wikipedia pages.” He also has two Wiki editors, Popoki 35, real name Sara Kathleen Smith, and Throast, also part of Sara’s commune, who help orchestrate these attacks.
In this action brought by Kavanaugh, Klein made numerous damaging statements about Kavanaugh on over a dozen podcasts and encouraged actions by his millions of followers, creating a coordinated attack on Kavanaugh’s Google search and Wikipedia page. The court filings reveal that Klein used his celebrity status and social media influence to propagate false accusations about Kavanaugh, to fuel his personal vendetta against Kavanaugh and for his own financial gain. Despite his significant financial resources, Klein created a GoFundMe page to fund his legal bills against Kavanaugh, raising money from his followers and the general public, and Klein made what is estimated to be millions off of using Kavanaugh’s name for “click-bait.”
The judge’s ruling in favor of Kavanaugh highlights the damage that false statements made by those with large followings on social media can cause to an individual’s reputation. It also emphasizes the power of social media and the need for responsible behavior by those with large followings on these platforms.
Kavanaugh’s legal victory is a reminder of the importance of accountability in online speech and the potential damages that can be caused by false statements. While Kavanaugh has contributed to the entertainment industry and philanthropy, Klein’s history of racism, homophobia, being banned, losing sponsors, and the drama surrounding him has made him a controversial figure. The ruling in Kavanaugh’s favor serves as a reminder that those with large social media followings should use their platform responsibly and that individuals can be held accountable for the damage they cause to others.
Despite all of this, Klein remains empowered as ever. During a previous podcast, while live on the air Klein repeated the n-word.
It seems as if Klein will be owing a substantial amount of money to Kavanaugh, some have speculated it could rival the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker suit where Hulk Hogan was awarded $115 Million Dollars putting Gawker into a bankruptcy.
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