YouTube personality Jack Doherty is seeking to dismiss all allegations pertaining to him in a lawsuit filed by an attorney who alleges the defendant ordered his bodyguard to beat him up during a live-streamed 2023 Halloween party, saying he should not be held liable for his protector’s alleged actions.
Chase Cameron Gardella, who since the alleged attack has become a practicing lawyer, is the plaintiff in a Van Nuys Superior Court lawsuit filed against Doherty, Jack Doherty LLC, Banger Official LLC and the bodyguard, Justin “Kane Kongg” Goslee. The suit’s allegations include assault, battery, negligence, negligent hiring, retention, supervision and training, aiding and abetting, unjust enrichment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Doherty’s dismissal motion does not include the claims against Goslee.
“At the time of the incident, defendant Kongg was acting independently, out of his own personal frustrations and clearly outside the scope of any assigned duties as security for Mr. Doherty when he struck plaintiff,” Doherty’s lawyers contend in court papers filed Monday with Judge Michael Amerian in advance of a March 17 hearing.
At its core, the lawsuit asks the court to hold Doherty liable for a punch he did not throw, an argument he did not provoke and conduct that fell entirely outside any conceivable scope of Kongg’s duties as Doherty’s independent contractor security guard, Doherty’s lawyers further state.
Gardella also is not entitled to punitive damages from Doherty because he cannot demonstrate that the YouTube personality engaged in conduct involving malice, fraud or oppression, the Doherty attorneys contend in their pleadings.
According to the suit, Gardella attended a Sherman Oaks Halloween party in October 2023 and early the next morning was on the street outside talking to Doherty and Goslee when the latter asked, “What are we doing?,” prompting Doherty to respond, “We’re gonna fight. Us two versus you two, all right go,” then gestured that he and Goslee were going to fight Gardella and a friend who was with the plaintiff, the suit states.
Moments later, Goslee punched Gardella in the face, causing him to fall and hurt his head, face and neck, the suit filed in February 2024 states.
Doherty live-streamed the assault on Gardella on the platform Kick and, in the hours and days that followed, posted videos of the assault on YouTube, X and TikTok channels, where he has a combined 22.8 million followers, the suit alleges.
“Doherty has a history, both before and after the subject incident, of filming himself harassing, assaulting and antagonizing members of the public by having his security guards step in to intimidate and assault them if they react to Doherty’s harassment,” the suit states.
But in court papers previously filed, Doherty’s lawyers maintain that Doherty was “acting in defense of others and reasonably believed that (Gardella) was going to harm others and used only the amount of force that was reasonably necessary.”
Doherty’s lawyers argue that his actions were done in “good faith;” that any losses or damages suffered by the plaintiff resulted from an “unavoidable incident or condition and, as such, were an act of God;” and that Gardella “conducted himself in such a manner so as to expose himself to … perils and dangers … and by so doing assumed all the risks attendant thereto.”
If Doherty’s dismissal motion is denied, trial is scheduled for April 13, 2026.