Singer-songwriter Pheobe Bridgers is facing a $3.8 million lawsuit for allegedly defamatory Instagram posts against music producer Chris Nelson. Nelson owns the Sound Space recording studio, and has not worked with Bridgers but has had some personal entanglements with her. He now claims that she made posts about him online which have hurt his prospects in the industry.
Nelson filed a lawsuit against Bridgers on Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, according to a report by PEOPLE. The outlet obtained a copy of the lawsuit, which claims that Bridgers publicly accused Nelson of “abuse” and “racially motivated hate crimes” in an Instagram post in October of 2020. So far, Bridgers and her representatives have declined to comment on the lawsuit. Nelson is seeking at least $3.8 million in damages for defamation, false light, intentional infliction of emotional distress and intentional interference with prospective economic relations.
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According to his lawsuit, Nelson first met Bridgers several years ago through work contacts, but never worked with her. However, he claims that in 2018 he and his then-girlfriend, Emily Bannon “began having consensual sexual encounters” with the 27-year-old singer. Nelson claims that he broke up with Bannon in the fall of 2019 and that she continued to have a relationship with Bridgers.
It was a year later that Bannon and Bridgers allegedly made the Instagram posts that Nelson’s complaint refers to. First, Bannon accused him of “racially motivated hate crimes,” including beating “a young Latinx man to death.” She also accused him of hacking women’s email accounts, stealing $50,000 from a neighbor and selling fake rare guitars at an enormous price.
Bridgers re-posted Bannon’s accusations on her own Instagram page, and directed her fans to Bannon’s account for the full story. She added that she “witnessed and can personally verify much of the abuse (grooming, stealing, violence) perpetuated by Chris Nelson.”
In his lawsuit now, Nelson asserts that “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.” The posts Nelson refers to are not visible on Bridgers’ Instagram at the time of this writing, and it is not clear if they were Story posts that expired or if they were deleted. So far, Bridgers has not responded publicly and it is not clear what will come next in the legal process.
