I don’t find myself agreeing with Desslock very often, but in this case I certainly agree that it appears that there is some muddying of the waters going on by some people in this thread.
Chris Avellone filed a libel suit against two women who accused him of very bad things. They ended up settling that lawsuit for 7 figures and put out a statement that he never did those bad things they accused him of.
Libel is very hard to prove. Per Cornell Law School:
To prove prima facie defamation, a plaintiff must show four things: 1) a false statement purporting to be fact; 2) publication or communication of that statement to a third person; 3) fault amounting to at least negligence; and 4) damages, or some harm caused to the reputation of the person or entity who is the subject of the statement.
And given how hard it is to prove libel, I would imagine not many people on the receiving end of a libel lawsuit would decide to settle for 7 figures if they are not worried that they are going to lose the suit. This isn’t one of those “it’s cheaper just to settle and move on with our lives” kind of things.
I don’t think there’s any lack of clarity here. These women wronged him and damaged his reputation in the process. He may be gross when it comes to his interactions with women, but that doesn’t warrant the accusations leveled at him.
I can’t speak to any of the other issues he has. But the folks who are suggesting that it’s not clear who won what or what really happened here are, I think, being disingenuous.