Patrick Reed is the latest member of the LIV Golf Series to go off course to court as the 2018 Masters champion has filed a $750 million defamation lawsuit against Golf Channel and commentator Brandel Chamblee.
The civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in US District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian, alleges that Chamblee and the cable network colluded with the PGA Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan to discredit Reed. bring “since he was 23 years old”.
Reed’s allegations in the 30-page complaint include “misreporting of information with false and/or reckless disregard of the truth, that is, with factual and constitutional malice, intentional omission of relevant material material facts to mislead the public, and actively targeting (Reed) to destroy his reputation, hate and create a hostile work environment for him.”
“Mr Reed is known to have been abused and endured more than any other golfer on tour by fans or spectators who have been allowed to shout obscenities, only to be glorified by NBC’s Golf Channel,” the lawsuit reads. “[Chamblee] has become the Golf Channel’s primary spokesperson and agent to push this defamatory agenda and cause serious harm to Mr Reed, LIV and other golfers signed to LIV.”
In January 2020, Reed’s lawyer sent Chamblee a letter of resignation demanding that he not repeat allegations that Reed had cheated during a tournament. Reed was penalized two strokes at the 2019 Hero World Challenge for correcting his lie in a bunker, but he claimed he had no intention of doing so.
Chamblee continued to scrutinize Reed over the years, not only over charges of cheating, but also his decision to switch from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf earlier this year.
The complaint also objects to Chamblee’s comments that Reed “would have no problem playing golf for Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot and Vladimir Putin”.
“This statement is false because Mr. Reed has never affiliated with a ‘tyrannical, murderous leader,'” the indictment reads. “He plays golf for LIV, which happens to be funded by the PIF, which has invested in and funded some of the largest and respected companies in the country and the world.
“This would be like saying that LeBron James has joined a ‘tyrannical, murderous leader’ for playing in the National Basketball Association, which has intricate ties to the People’s Republic of China, whose government is accused of a current and ongoing genocide. against the Muslim Uyghur people.”
Reed, 32, claims Chamblee’s opinion has led fans to harass him and call him a cheater at tournaments.
According to the complaint:
These induced personal attacks include, but are not limited to, “Now on the tee the digger!”, “You suck!”, “You f…ing sucks!”, “You bastard!” ,” “Shovel!”, Why don’t you dig a grave and bury yourself in it!,” “You piece of shit!”, “Nobody likes you!”, Everyone hates you Reed!,” “Good luck digging yourself out of this one! ,” “Where are your parents coward?!,” “You cheater!,” “Cheat!,” “Everyone hates your cheater!”, “You’re going to miss this, cheater!” “You cheat in college and on tour and you’re a piece of shit!,” “Beat the cheater’s ass!”, “Sorry Webb for having to play with the cheat! Who did you piss off?!” ‘Why don’t you introduce your children to their grandparents, ungrateful bitch?’ This is just a sampling of what defendants have maliciously and intentionally caused and promoted with actual malice.
Although he was a nine-time winner of the PGA Tour, Reed apparently felt Monahan and the tour were after him.
The lawsuit continues: “Despite his exceptional world-class golfing achievements, Mr. Reed was constructively terminated from the PGA Tour in June 2022, as a result of threats and measures taken by his (sic) commissioner Jay Monahan and his PGA Tour, and signed with LIV Golf.”
The PGA Tour has indefinitely suspended its members who played in the first LIV event in June without permission from the tour. Reed joined LIV only last month at the second event of their eight-tournament schedule in North Plains, Oregon. He was therefore suspended.
The lawsuit, seeking damages in excess of $750 million, has been filed by Larry Klayman, founder of the conservative group Freedom Watch, which has previously failed to sue libel cases on behalf of one-time U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio against a phalanx of national media.
