Enlarge / LAS VEGAS – JUNE 11: Greg Scherick (L) at the CineVegas film festival in 2006. Scherick has sued Gizmodo Media Group, claiming that an article in Jezebel about his project “Superstar Machine” was libelous. (credit: Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for CineVegas)
An Oregon life coach, represented by the lawyer who won a $ 140 million verdict against Gawker Media on behalf of Hulk Hogan, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Jezebel, one of the websites that was once part of Gawker’s online media group.
Jezebel, a culture and news site geared towards women, ran a story about a group called “Superstar Machine,” which quoted some ex-members referring to the group as a “cult.” The founder of Superstar Machine, Greg Scherick, has sued Jezebel for defamation. Scherick is represented by Charles Harder, the same lawyer who sued Gawker, as well as the tech blog Techdirt, for defamation of his clients.
The article described Scherick as running a self-help group in which women gathered around him in a semi-circle and Scherick proceeded to “call people on our shit,” in the words of one former follower. Scherick would tell women “what he perceived their spiritual and romantic failings to be,” according to the article. This often led to tears, and crying in the group was “frequent” and “praised.”
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