Electronic music producer Bassnectar is pursuing a defamation case against the owner of the Evidence Against Bassnectar (@evidenceagainstbassnectar) Instagram account and 20+ individuals. The artist filed a lawsuit in Arizona against the account, which publicized allegations that the musician had groomed and sexually abused underage fans, exercising a decade-long campaign of defamation against him. The complaint is available to read in its entirety here. Attorney Jill J. Ormond in Maricopa County on July 24th filed the staggering 32-page complaint on behalf of Bassnectar. Moreover, festival scene influencer The Festive Owl made the legal documents public earlier this week. The documents argue that plaintiffs Lorin Ashton (p/k/a Bassnectar), Bassnectar Touring, Inc. (his touring company), and Amorphous Music (his record label) were under attack and were victims to “cancel culture and the devastating impact of wrongful conviction and unjust punishment by the court of public opinion.” The lengthy paperwork continues explaining that the plaintiff engaged in a “multi-year social media smear campaign featuring bold, knowingly false, willfully malicious, and unqualified assertions that Plaintiff Ashton is a ‘pedophile,’ ‘sexual predator,’ ‘rapist,’ ‘trafficker,’ and ‘diddler,’ among other heinous, defamatory and reputation-crushing assertions”. The document continues explaining that the admitted creator of the Instagram account, David Montana Billings, a/k/a/ DB Montana, dedicated himself to the destruction and cancellation of Bassnectar. Bassnectar is suing DB Montana over his use of social media to attack and expose the artist with alleged untrue and unproven allegations, broadcasting to a worldwide audience. The plaintiff also mentions multiple accounts and comments of social media users wishing death upon him. Moreover, the complaint also explains how Bassnectar’s reputation tanked completely due to years of cyberstalking and obsession from the defendant. The document goes as far as mentioning Montana’s comments directed towards the plaintiff, engaging in doxxing and comparing him to Sean Diddy Combs, and alluding to the Kendrick Lamar vs Drake drama. Around the same time of the lawsuit dropping, a lengthy feature article appeared on a blog called Conscious Electronic detailing the entire history between DB Montana and Bassnectar. The article explains how DB Montana felt personally wronged by Bassnectar and essentially set out to ruin his life and career via the allegations that have dominated his life since 2020. If you want the deep dive on this story, look no further than here. After the allegations became public in 2020, the artist was dealt a civil lawsuit. As a result, he stopped performing live for years. However, Bassnectar made somewhat of a return, hosting a two-day event in Las Vegas. Although he has had successful shows since, including events in New York City and Miami, he has also faced rejection. In Asheville, NC, his two-day show got cancelled 24 hours before doors opened due to public scrutiny. Nonetheless, both the defendant and the plaintiffs settled the civil lawsuit earlier this year before it went to trial.(Source) This is a developing story…Bassnectar Files Defamation Lawsuit As Smear Campaign is Exposed
The Complaint
DM Montana’s “Crusade” Exposed?
Recent Years
