Eastern Idaho businessman Frank VanderSloot is suing Mother Jones magazine because he contends he was defamed by an article that depicted him as a “gay-basher.”
VanderSloot, the CEO of direct marketing company Melaleuca, filed the lawsuit in Idaho Falls’ 7th District court on Tuesday. He says a February 2012 article about him and two tweets promoting it prompted national criticism.
The magazine’s co-editor-in-chief Monika Bauerlein says Mother Jones stands by its reporting and she hasn’t yet received official notification of the lawsuit.
VanderSloot is asking for nearly $75,000 in damages. The lawsuit focuses on the article titled, “Pyramid-Like Company Ponies Up $1 million for Mitt Romney.” The term “gay-bashing” never appears in the story, but VanderSloot points to a tweet promoting the article that described him as Romney’s “gay-bashing buddy.”
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