Brooklyn Pastor Robbed During Church Service Files Separate $20 Million Defamation Lawsuits Against Media Personality Larry Reid & Youtuber Demario Jives

Bishop Whitehead, Larry Reid, Demario Jives

Brooklyn Pastor Robbed During Church Service Files Separate $20 Million Defamation Lawsuits Against Media Personality Larry Reid & Youtuber Demario Jives

Pastor Lamar Whitehead is fed up with people claiming he lied about his church robbery.

According to reports, the Brooklyn based pastor – who was streaming live when his church was allegedly robbed of over $1 million worth of jewelry, is taking legal action against two of his social media naysayers. The defendants of the suits are a Youtuber named Demario Jives as well as online media personality Larry Reid. Reports state that Whitehead is seeking at least $20 million in defamation damages from both parties separately.

Reportedly, both social media influencers heavily accused the pastor of lying and staging the crime. The suit claims that Demario Q. Jives, or Official King Jives on Youtube, stated to his 80,000+ subscribers that Whitehead:

“is wearing the same jewelry that [he] got robbed in”

Additionally, Jives accused the spiritual leader of “drug dealing” and collaborating with “the Bloods and Crypts.”

The suit also notes that media personality Larry Reid wrote a post online claiming that Whitehead:

“scammed people out of money”

Adding he believed the Bishop would be “locked up in a couple of months”. If you recall, Reid and Whitehead engaged in a heated social media exchange on instagram shortly after the incident.

Lawyers for Whitehead claim the statements made against their client are “all false, defamatory and slanderous” lies. The Bishop claims that the defendants comments lost him “business deals, church members, and income,” and is seeking “no less than $20,000,000 or such other amount to be proven at trial.”

Suspicions about the July robbery began to swirl right after Whitehead took to the media to address the incident in “flashy” dress wear. Shortly after, it was discovered that the pastor previously was allegedly incarcerated for identity theft and grand larceny.

Firing back at the suit, Jives reportedly stated:

“I’m a commentator….I give commentary on religion, politics, public figures, everything. … We make a lot of jokes, especially about this particular situation, because this guy really is a joke. So for him to try to even file something is egregious.

He continued:

“He’s mad because people he’s getting backlash, and I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re doing all this talking about a robbery. Who else in the world is out here having interviews about being robbed?’”

Reid also reportedly responded to the suit, calling it “absurd and unfounded”, stating:

“The key thing about a defamation lawsuit is you’ve got to show a loss, and you’ve also got to show malicious intent. I just stated what every other outlet stated, so he should be suing them as well….There’s no good reputation to defame. He has no case.” 

Larry Reid

However Whitehead’s lawyers are adamant their client will be prosperous in the suit. Brian Ponder, a lawyer and spokesperson for the suit reportedly stated:

“The defamatory statements that are being made are affecting the bishop’s business and church and professional duties, so he’s going to very aggressively hold those people accountable that are behind it,”

Adding:

“This is the beginning of that process of dealing with those actors maliciously stating falsehoods about the bishop.”

He also stated that there will likely be “many more” similar suits to come.

[VIA]

Do you think Whitehead has a true lawsuit against the defendants? Tell us in the comments section.