In April 2021, a 59-second video of Sam Johnson was posted online. In the clip, the businessman is seen standing next to an 18-year-old teenage boy named Dalton Stevens who wore a dress to his prom and bothers and berates him..
“I chose what I want to wear, so you can f— off,” the teen told Johnson. The businessman then said, “you look like an idiot.
Kathy Griffin retweet the video with the message, “If this is Sam Johnson in Nashville, Tennessee, the CEO of @VisuWell , healthcare-tech-growth strategist, married to Jill Johnson where they may reside in Franklin, Tennessee, it seems like he’s dying to be online famous.”
Johnson said Griffin’s tweet led to VisuWell firing him as CEO and removing him from the board. Days after the comedian fired off the message, the company released a statement distancing itself saying it, “unequivocally condemns the behavior exhibited by Sam Johnson.” So of course child abusing adult homophobe Johnson is suing Griffin for “doxxing” him.
In the lawsuit, Johnson’s lawyer wrote, “Ms. Griffin is a malign internet provocateur and is notorious for her disturbing posts on various social media platforms, especially Twitter. Her preferred method of online harassment is to “dox” private citizens.” and said the video was “incomplete, edited, and out-of-context.” His lawyer wrote, “The Video Clip only showed one minute of an incident that had been developing for over one hour. The implication created by the Video Clip—that Mr. Johnson instigated a confrontation to bully two LGBTQIA+ teenagers at a hotel—was deeply misleading.”
In her response, Griffin said, “This case tests a core feature of our democracy: the ability to participate in debate on a public issue without fear of punishment and involves a widely publicized incident in which [Samuel Johnson], a local health care executive berated a gay high school student who was taking prom pictures at the Harpeth Hotel in Franklin, Tennessee, early on a Saturday evening.”
Prom w my favs especially @SJohnsonTN pic.twitter.com/13Cc9lYuco
— Dalton Stevens (@james13stevens) April 25, 2021