As the legal battle continues over Terry Crews’ claims of sexual assault, the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” actor has found himself in the middle of, yet, another lawsuit, but this time he is the defendant.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Crews has been accused of bullying a digital marketer who was hired to help boost his online presence during the actor’s transition from professional sports.
In a complaint filed by Symbolic Web Media and Darwin Hall, the plaintiffs say it all started in 1999 when Symbolic was hired for their online services for $55 an hour. According to Symbolic, under the terms compensation was deferred until Crews’ catapult to success.
Now that the actor has made it, the plaintiffs are looking to cash in on a few claims.
According to the complaint, Symbolic says it provided services for Crews for nearly two decades but was only compensated for less than 300 hours after putting in more than 6,000 hours.
In 2013, the company said it began working with another client, and that’s when things took a turn for the worse with Crews.
“The client identifies as LGBT, although the app did not involve the LGBT community,” Symbolic said in its complaint, describing its other client. “Crews found out that Plaintiffs were working on the app and flew into a rage. Defendant Crews told Plaintiffs that in no uncertain terms could Defendants continue to work with Plaintiffs if Plaintiffs
worked with anyone that was LGBT on an app for the LGBT community. Plaintiffs told Defendants that the app did not involve the LGBT community, and that because the client had already paid for the Plaintiffs to build the app, Plaintiffs were contractually obligated to perform the work.”
As the complaint continued, the Plaintiffs said Crews offered to reimburse the company for the contract. But when the company pulled out of the deal, they said Crews ceased all communication.
“Thereafter,” the complaint continued, “as Plaintiffs’ counsel began to negotiate with Defendants’ counsel to come to some sort of resolution over the outstanding balance, Defendant Crews retaliated with unbelievable and unlawful cyberstalking, cyberbullying, harassment, and destruction of Plaintiffs’ reputation and business.”
However, Crews refuted the claims via social media, saying the app was not a dating app – but more like pornography. In fact, he explained himself further in a series of tweets.
“The guy I paid to create [http://terrycrews.com] is squatting on it for $1,000,000. This is not a joke. He can have it,” Crews wrote. “Guy used to be a friend so I paid him to help him out – until I found out he was creating porn sites – so I let him go.”
“Therefore the revenge shakedown,” Crews said. “Then he started trademarking things regarding me without my knowledge…..One time he bragged about trying to kill his college roommate by spiking the guy’s peanut butter with mercury. He said the guy got really sick, but didn’t die. I don’t know if it was true or not, but he was bragging to subtly let me know how far he would go if I ever crossed.”
In turn, Hall accused Crews of defamation, as well as cyberstalking after Crews’ followers attacked him over the posts. In the suit, the plaintiffs demand that Crews be prohibited from posting or causing his followers to post “insults and personal affronts regarding the plaintiff whatsoever, including but not limited to anything regarding the professional and personal character and reputation of Plaintiffs.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, they also want the posts deleted and damages for breach of contract, defamation, cyberstalking and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
