YouTube influencer Ben Armstrong, better known by his pseudonym Bitboy, has pleaded guilty to a defamation suit filed against fellow YouTuber Atozy, aka Erling Mengshoel.
The concession was received during the Bitboy Crypto live stream on Wednesday.
Armstrong’s lawsuit alleges that an Etozi video from November 2020, “This YouTuber Scams His Fans…BitboyCrypto,” questioned his “honesty, credibility and credibility.”
According to the suit, Etozzi’s video, in which he referred to Armstrong as a “shady dirt bag” among other adjectives, caused significant damage to Armstrong’s business.
In addition the affected person was left in a “fragile” emotional state, suffering from “severe anxiety” and “bouts of depression”, which prompted him to seek financial reimbursement of more than $75,000.
On Wednesday, Armstrong, who appeared to be recovering emotionally from the ordeal, took to YouTube to announce that he was dropping the case.
Armstrong declared, “Atozzi you have won.”
According to Armstrong, his reason for filing the lawsuit was never to extort money from Mengshoel, but to force him to take down the video. That plan turned upside down.
Instead of forcing Mengshoel to retreat as he intended, Armstrong’s strategy inspired him to crypto community Rising up against him, collectively. Crypto Influencer kobi was among those who offered his assistance while stumping up $100,000 To help Etozi fight the case.
Mengshoel drew more, or more, from the wider crypto community, and with public opinion against Armstrong, it was clear that the objectives of the lawsuit could not be met.
Armstrong then said that if he had known the lawsuit would go public, he would never have filed it.
“Then we’ll drop the lawsuit, 100%, and I’m sorry it went public,” Armstrong said. “I’m sorry it was misinterpreted, but I want you guys to understand why I was doing this. It was not about the slap trial.”
While there is no such thing as a “slap lawsuit”, at least not in legal language, it is likely that Armstrong was referring to the SLAPP lawsuit or the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation.
A SLAPP lawsuit is a legal case filed to censor, intimidate and silence a critic by burdening them with a costly legal defense for which they are unable to pay.
When Mengshoel apparently and suddenly was able to pay for his legal defense, and Armstrong promptly dropped the case, Armstrong felt the need to clarify this important point.
bitboy name clearing
Armstrong now aims to do the important job of cleaning up his tarnished image, which has plagued him since the lawsuit went public.
“I believe I am probably the most misunderstood person of all crypto,” Armstrong said.
Regarding the project that started the uproar – Pamp – Armstrong says that smart contracts were replaced after their review and promotion. He says the group behind the project changed the code and lied to him.
“The very day after Rag Pull, I think it was probably November 16th, something like that, the next day I made a video with a full statement on the situation, why this is bad, why we’re sorry,” says Armstrong. . “I didn’t technically say I’m sorry, but it was basically an apology,” he said.
BitBoy relied on lawyers to assess emotional state
Regarding his fragile emotional state cited in the suit, Armstrong explained that he signed those claims because he trusted the ability of his legal team to determine the emotional state he was in at the time he filed the lawsuit.
“They’re looking at statements with language by lawyers, and by the way, that’s the way you write lawsuits. That’s the way, the wording, the language, the emotional appeal, that’s how they’re written guys. And yes, I signed it. But I trust my lawyers to do a good job.”
In the end, Bitboy pointed out that at no stage did Etozzi ever properly talk to him about the whole thing.
“Etozzi has never reached out to me in this whole situation, has she ever asked any questions. I was never given a chance to tell my side of the story,” Armstrong said.
Perhaps part of the reason why Mengshoel never reached Armstrong is because he believes, as he has repeatedly said, that Armstrong is a “dirtbag”.
Mengshoel is now awaiting official confirmation from his lawyer that the legal case has been pulled before turning back the contributors. Armstrong suggests that Coby donate his $100,000 pledge to charity.