Writer Who Appeared on ‘Media Men’ List Sues Its Creators

Stephen Elliott, a writer who appeared on a widely circulated list of men who were said to have committed various forms of sexual misconduct, is suing Moira Donegan, the woman who created the document. Elliott says that she and various unnamed women who contributed to the list harmed his reputational and emotional well-being with claims that he says are false.

Elliott, an author based in New Orleans, whose name appeared on the list highlighted in red to signify that multiple women had accused him of “physical sexual violence,” said in a lawsuit that the information about him on the list was “abusive, vulgar, intentionally misleading as well as damning to the Plaintiff’s reputation and good name.”

The lawsuit, which was reported by Jezebel, was filed in federal court Wednesday.

Elliott, whose name on the list was attached to “rape accusations, sexual harassment” and “coercion,” wrote an essay for Quillette recently in which he said the accusations had “derailed his life.”

The lawsuit asserts that Elliott lost professional opportunities and friendships after the list became public knowledge. It accuses Donegan and the other authors of the list of taking action “solely to damage Plaintiff’s reputation and career.”

The list was created exactly a year ago by Donegan, who has said she sought to warn peers in the media industry about men to be avoided. It was created in a Google spreadsheet, which can be edited collaboratively, and initially shared with a select group. Directions at the top of the list read: “Please never name an accuser, and please never share this document with a man.” Knowledge of the document spread quickly, bringing both additional viewers to it and additional names, as the other women, many of them acting anonymously, added people to the list.

The lawsuit represents the first known major legal action taken by a man named on the list against its creator and contributors. Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer representing Elliott, said in an interview Thursday that he had taken the case because “people shouldn’t be able to hide behind anonymity — in this case the anonymity of the internet — to ruin someone’s life.”

He said that other people had expressed interest in joining the lawsuit but that, on Thursday evening, no one had. He did not give further details on who had expressed interest. He also declined to comment on who was paying Elliott’s legal fees.

“If you’re Stephen Elliot or someone else on that list or a private person, an individual who’s just a target, where do you go to get your reputation back and how you defend yourself?” he asked. He said that the list represented a modern-day form of McCarthyism.

The lawsuit suggests that Elliott would seek to locate anonymous contributors to the list through the IP addresses or email accounts that could identify them. Google’s press team said such information would be turned over if Elliott provided the company with a valid court order (or, alternatively, if he obtained it directly from Donegan).

The list was labeled “a collection of misconduct allegations and rumors.” A message toward the top advised those with whom it was shared to “take everything with a grain of salt.”

“When I made the document, I really wanted it to be accessible to women who would otherwise not be a part of whisper networks,” Donegan said in a February interview. “So, women who don’t happen to have the friends who know about their new boss, or the woman who doesn’t have the professional cachet to have been told already, ‘Oh, that editor — don’t work with him.'”

Donegan declined to comment Thursday. The list, which was created soon after multiple accusations of assault against Harvey Weinstein became public, was an early flash point in the nascent #Me Too movement.

Miltenberg has become known for defending men who have been accused of sexual misconduct. They include Paul Nungesser, who was charged by a fellow Columbia University student, Emma Sulkowicz, of rape. Nungesser sued the university for supporting the accuser. The case was settled in 2017.

Elliott is asking the court to order that the defendants “issue a written retraction to each and every person to whom they originally published the false and defamatory statements,” and no less than $2 million in damages. Miltenberg said that number would likely increase as Elliott’s lawyers continued to assess the damage that they said had been done to their client.