A former Super Smash Bros. player and streamer Friday sued a woman who he says damaged his career with false social media statements that he physically abused his girlfriend and that he made sexual suggestions to a 14-year-old girl.
Gonzalo Barrios, known professionally as ZeRo, brought the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Jacqueline Choe, alleging defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A representative for the 23-year-old Choe could not be immediately reached.
The Chilean-born ZeRo, 26, was considered the best Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player in the world throughout his career, with a record-breaking 56 consecutive tournament wins in the game from November 2014 to October 2015.
According to his suit, Choe in July 2020 drafted a document that was published and circulated throughout numerous social media outlets, including Dot Esports, Kotaku, Dexerto and ESPN. The document included multiple falsehoods and “outright defamatory claims” against ZeRo and others that caused the termination of his Twitch account and his partnership with the organizations Tempo Storm and Facebook Gaming, the suit alleges.
In one allegedly defamatory tweet, Choe falsely said that ZeRo started dating his girlfriend when she was 15 and ZeRo was 20, the suit states. Accusing persons in the gaming industry of having inappropriate contact with minors is harmful to them in their profession, the suit states.
Although Choe tried later to retract the statement, the damage was done and the tweet remains online Friday, the suit states.
In another allegedly defamatory posting, Choe falsely accused ZeRo of “consistent physical abuse” of his girlfriend, according to the suit.
Choe also posted on Twitter a false statement that ZeRo showed her explicit Craigslist ads of sex workers, the suit states.
In yet another alleged defamatory statement, Choe tweeted on April 28 that ZeRo asked a 14-year-old girl to send him photos of herself acting in a sexual way, essentially accusing him of being a pedophile, according to the suit.
In addition to the financial impact, Choe’s alleged conduct has caused ZeRo severe emotional distress by falsely accusing him of “criminal and immoral actions,” the suit states.
Famed Gamer Alleges Woman’s Defamatory Postings Damaged His Career was last modified: November 19th, 2021 by
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