SLAPP Lawsuit Summary

Nedgam Productions, Edge 1 Productions v. BizParentz and Anne Henry

In 2009, Bizparentz was sued for defamation along with Disney/ABC News, and three Better Business Bureaus. We were sued in Connecticut (where we have never done business and have never even visited!). This kind of lawsuit is called a SLAPP suit — Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.  SLAPP suits are created for the sole reason of silencing critics and stopping a discussion about an issue of public interest (like talent scams). They are baseless, but they are intended to bankrupt or scare the recipients.

A good explanation of SLAPP suits (OK, it’s funny and there is even a musical theater number at the end!) can be found in this episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. John Oliver discusses how journalists and citizen activists are often sued in this way. Winning the case is never the goal — fear is.

After a year-long battle, our capable lawyers at the University of Connecticut were able to move the case to a Los Angeles court. California, along with 29 other states, has a set of laws called anti-SLAPP laws. Anti-SLAPP laws allow defendants to assert their First Amendment rights to free speech. We attended a hearing and expressed our intent to file an anit-SLAPP motion. Although we were offered money if we stopped speaking out against talent scams, we refused. A day later, they withdrew the lawsuit. There has never been a successful lawsuit against Bizparentz.

Why are we keeping this on our site? Three reasons:

• Because we want to be crystal clear that we are not associated with any talent search business, no matter what they may say about us.
• We want to parents to know the truth about lawsuits like this: they are often intended to stop advocates from passing laws that protect consumers, and from speaking out about “bad actors” (pun intended).
• The individuals and companies that sued us are still in business today. Company names may change, but the business model is the same.