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March 25, 2015

Nikki Benz Prevails in Lisa Ann Harassment Case Against Her

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Superior Court has ruled in favor of Nikki Benz and dismissed Lisa Ann's application for a temporary restraining order against Benz after granting Benz's anti-SLAPP motion. On February 13 of this year, Lisa Ann filed for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Benz after a well-publicized Twitter exchange between the two stars. The court filing regarding the Lisa Ann/Nikki Benz "Twitter War" was picked up for coverage by TMZ and other media outlets. Benz's anti-SLAPP motion against the Order, seeking a ruling that Lisa Ann's application was frivolous and "not supported by the evidence," was granted in its entirety after a hearing Monday. Lisa Ann is best known for her portrayal of Sarah Palin in the Nailin' Paylin series. She retired from adult last year. Nikki Benz is a Penthouse Pet of the Year winner and recently made world headlines after it was suggested she run for mayor of Toronto. Ruling in Nikki Benz's favor, the Los Angeles Superior Court agreed that nothing Nikki Benz tweeted or said about Lisa Ann at an awards show in January 2015 amounted to an actionable claim for harassment. As stated ''[Lisa Ann] has failed to submit sufficient evidence to demonstrate her petition has the minimal merit." The conflict apparently began when, on December 21, 2014, Benz tweeted to Ann that she wanted to "beat your ass" in a boxing match (for charity), and similar tweets were sent over the following days, claiming, for example, that Ann had "next to zero friends left in this industry," that she is a "hooker" and "old." After that, Ann claims that she received a large number of anonymous phone calls and voicemails, at least one of which said, "I'm going to fucking kill you! I know exactly who you are ... I know who you are!" The calls and voicemails allegedly continued, and were particularly troubling to Ann because she claimed that only five people had her home phone number, one of them a security guard who was then allegedly working for Benz. Ann also allegedly received similar threatening calls on her cell phone, and during one of them, Ann said the caller "recited my social security number, driver's license, and other private information that is not readily available to the public, threatened to dismember a baby on my porch, threatened to kill me again, and demanded money." Benz also allegedly heckled Ann during an award presentation and "[sent] menacing looks in my direction." One month later, Ann filed for the TRO, charging civil harassment by Benz—and 13 days afterwards, Benz filed the anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion against Ann to overturn the TRO. According to the California Anti-SLAPP Project, a SLAPP lawsuit is a "civil complaint or counterclaim (against either an individual or an organization) in which the alleged injury was the result of petitioning or free speech activities protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and by the California Constitution." Aparently Benz took the TRO as a "civil complaint," and responded with the anti-SLAPP suit, and the parties have been trading legal papers for most of the past month. But it all came to a head on Monday, as Judge John L. Segal delivered a lengthy ruling examining the charges and countercharges between the actresses, and concluded that Ann's allegations did not rise to an actual threat against her. A copy of Judge Segal's ruling is here. "I am thrilled that the Court has thrown out Lisa Ann's frivolous case for supposed harassment against me," Benz said in a press release. "I intend to pursue her for all damages she has caused me as a result. Filing legal cases just to get in TMZ is just sad. A big thank you to all adult stars and industry people who showed me support on Twitter and in court. The overwhelming support is greatly appreciated." "This case involved interesting issues of First Amendment, publicity and social media," added Benz's attorney, Stephen M. Kernan. "Courts would be overflowing with even more cases if they allowed 'harassment' cases to proceed every time a Twitter war breaks out. True harassment cases must be supported with evidence, not manufactured theories that make great soundbites on TMZ. We are glad the Court ruled in Nikki Benz's favor. The statute now requires Murphy pay Ms. Benz's attorney's fees incurred in this matter, and we intend to file a motion for those fees shortly." AVN attempted to reach the attorneys for both sides for further comment, and will post such comments, if any, when received.

 
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