Masters Winner Patrick Reed Sues Golf Channel Commentator for $750 Million Over On-Air Criticism
Masters Winner Patrick Reed Sues Golf Channel Commentator for $750 Million Over On-Air Criticism: Patrick Reed, a professional golfer, has decided to take action.
According to ESPN’s reporting, the 32-year-old winner of the 2018 Masters Tournament has filed a slander lawsuit against the Golf Channel and commentator Brandel Chamblee.
According to court documents that were obtained by The New York Post from a reporter for Courthouse News Service, Reed accuses Chamblee, 60, and the golfing network of causing “continuing and aggravated harm to Mr. Reed’s professional, business, and personal reputation and livelihood.” These allegations were made public by the reporter for Courthouse News Service.
According to the documents, “Defendants Chamblee and NBC’s Golf Channel have conspired as joint tortfeasors for and with the PGA Tour, [sic] it’s executives, and it’s Commissioner Jay Monahan, to engage in a pattern and practise of defaming Mr. Reed.” This was done in order to engage in “a pattern and practise of defaming Mr. Reed.”
The legal team representing the golfer asserts that the defendants would intentionally misreport “information with falsity and/or reckless disregard of the truth, that is with actual and constitutional malice, purposely omitting pertinent key material facts to mislead the public, and actively targeting Mr. Reed.”
When PEOPLE attempted to contact the Golf Channel on Wednesday, a representative for the network declined to comment.
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According to the complaint that was submitted to the United States District Court in Texas on Tuesday, Reed has experienced feelings of being targeted for the past nine years, since he turned professional at the age of 23.
Reed stated in the complaint that the defendant’s actions have resulted in the creation of hatred as well as a “hostile work environment” for him. This was in reference to the impacts that the defendant’s actions have caused.
Reed has been accused of cheating throughout his career, commencing in December 2019 when, according to Yahoo News, Reed was discovered moving sand from beneath his ball at the Hero World Challenge.
Reed then claimed that the accusations were the result of a “poor camera angle,” despite the fact that cameras had seen him at the time removing the sand while taking two practice swings. Reed has assessed a penalty of two strokes, but there were others who felt he should have been disqualified from the competition.
During the coverage, Chamblee was quoted as stating, “This is going to follow him about like the footage of Nixon saying ‘I’m not a crook,’ ” as reported by The New York Post. According to the source, in 2020, Reed’s attorney wrote Chamblee a letter requesting that he stop asserting that Reed knowingly disregarded the regulations and enclosed a cease-and-desist demand in the letter.
According to the lawsuit, Chamblee has continued to make connections between the golfer in question and the charges of cheating that he has made as well as his choice earlier that year to switch from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.
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According to the court documents, “it is well-known on a tour that Mr. Reed has been abused and endured more than any other golfer from fans or spectators who have been allowed to scream obscenities only to be glorified by NBC’s Golf Channel for doing so.”
“It is well-known on a tour that Mr. Reed has been abused and endured more than any other golfer from fans or spectators who have been allowed to scream obscenities only to The plaintiff went on to say, “This results in greater ‘clicks’ for Defendants Chamblee and Golf Channel as well as increased viewing, ratings, and money. As long as the defendants make more money and profit, it does not matter how horribly they ruin someone’s life or reputation for them. All that matters is that they make more money.”
The nine-time winner on the PGA Tour also addressed his suspension from the tour because he elected to join the controversial organization LIV Golf, which is financed by Saudi Arabia.
According to the complaint, “Despite his exceptional world-class golfing achievements, in June of 2022, Mr. Reed was constructively terminated as a member of the PGA Tour.” This happened because of threats made and actions taken by the PGA Tour’s Commissioner Jay Monahan and his PGA Tour. Reed then signed with LIV Golf.
According to ESPN’s reporting, the PGA Circuit has suspended its golfers, including Reed, for participating in the first event of the LIV without first receiving permission from the tour.
According to Golf Channel’s report from the time, Monahan’s statement at the time was that “as our regulations specify plainly, there are no conflicting event/media releases available for events that take place in North America.” “As a direct consequence of this, these players did not receive the requisite conflicting event and media rights releases. As a consequence of this, their participation in the Saudi Golf League/LIV event is in violation of our tournament regulations.”