Phoebe Bridgers sued for defamation by music producer

Music producer Chris Nelson, who owns the Sound Space recording studio, filed a lawsuit against the Grammy-nominated musician in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday (27 September), alleging that Bridgers accused him of abusive behaviour on Instagram.

The A.V. Club reports that Nelson is seeking $3.8 million (£2.8 million) in damages for alleged defamation with claims that Bridgers posted "false and misleading statements" about him online.

Although the two have not worked together professionally, Nelson's lawsuit claims that she "intentionally used her high-profile public platform on Instagram" to post "false and defamatory statements" about him to "destroy his reputation".

Nelson's lawsuit states that in 2018, he and his then-girlfriend Emily Bannon "began having consensual sexual encounters with Bridgers." The suit states that Nelson and Bannon split in late 2018, but Bridgers and Bannon continued their relationship.

The documents reportedly state that Bridgers allegedly wrote on her Instagram in October 2020 that she "witnessed and can personally verify much of the abuse (grooming, stealing, violence) perpetuated by Chris Nelson."

Bridgers allegedly directed her followers to Bannon’s Instagram account, where Bannon accused the Sound Space owner of "racially motivated hate crimes", such as beating "a young Latinx man to death." Nelson also claims Bannon's Instagram allegedly accused him of fraud and theft, including selling buyers fake rare guitars, stealing $50k from a neighbour and hacking women's email accounts.

People reports that according to the documents, Nelson believes "Bridgers maliciously and intentionally posted the false and defamatory statements about [Nelson] as part of a vendetta to destroy [Nelson's] reputation that was enflamed by Bridgers and Bannon's sexual relationship."

According to Pitchfork, Nelson also filed a defamation lawsuit against actress and musician Noël Wells in an unrelated case.