A federal judge in Florida on Friday dismissed golfer Patrick Reed’s $750 million defamation suit against Brandel Chamblee, the Golf Channel and others.
United States District Court Judge Timothy J. Corrigan gave Reed until Dec. 16 to file the amended complaint. The defendants have until January 13 to respond.
In his ruling on Friday, Reed wrote that he “failed to inform the defendants of the merits of each claim because Reed alleged 120 factual allegations, then included all 120 allegations in each and every count.”
“Reed attempted to allege separate defamation and civil conspiracy violations against each defendant; causes of action required very different factual allegations,” Corrigan wrote. “The Court hereby dismisses Reed’s complaint without prejudice. Reed is directed to include in each count of the amended complaint only the factual allegations relevant to each cause of action.”
In the original complaint, Reed’s attorneys allege Chameleon and the Golf Channel conspired with the PGA Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan to smear Reed’s name “starting at age 23” — nine years ago.
“Mr. Reed, the court retained a plurality judgment and set a deadline for the defendants to respond to the recent complaint, which includes additional defamatory statements published after the original complaint was filed,” Reed’s attorney, Larry Kleiman, said in a statement. “The order is about the nature of our plea, which is easily dealt with, not the substance of the allegations, which is strong. Mr. Reid and other LIV players have been victimized by fraud, and this case is designed to put an end to that. Once and for all.”
In Reed’s lawsuit, the defendants “conspired to destroy his reputation, to create hatred and to create an atmosphere of hatred against him with the intent to discredit his reputation and his accomplishments as a young, elite, world-class golfer and a good and caring man who is a husband and father of two.”
Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, left the PGA Tour last season to compete on the new LIV golf circuit. Monahan banned PGA Tour members who competed in the LIV golf tournament without adverse event releases. Reed was part of Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces team that won LIV Golf’s first team championship. Reed has earned more than $12 million in seven LIV events.
