A social media and digital marketing strategist and “Girl, I Guess” podcast co-host is suing a comedienne and singer, alleging she was defamed on Twitter by a woman for whom she secured invitations to important events as well as a gig performing the national anthem at a 2020 Clippers playoff game.
Karen Civil’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Jessie Woo also alleges false light, unjust enrichment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Civil seeks unspecified damages in the suit filed Thursday.
“One of the core requirements of any successful media and entertainment website is that they accurately inform their audiences in an unbiased and objective manner on emerging trends and breaking news in entertainment,” the suit states. “Ms. Civil’s podcast is a part of her name and her brand, so for (Woo) to attack the integrity of Ms. Civil, her podcast and her image is to further attack Ms. Civil herself.”
A representative for the 30-year-old, Canadian-born Woo could not be immediately reached for comment.
The 36-year-old Civil has created digital content for such artists as Lil Wayne, the late Nipsey Hussle, YG, Jeezy, Nicki Minaj, Dave East, Andre Berto, Pusha T and Nick Cannon, the suit states.
Dubbed by the New Yorker as the “Girl who made Hillary Clinton cool,” Civil was an integral part of the former Democratic presidential candidate’s social media marketing campaign, the suit states.
Civil also has been the digital marketing director of Beats by Dre for over six years, the suit states. She mentored Woo over the years and during the weekend of the 2019 Grammys, obtained an invitation for her when she was not on the list for the Spotify Best New Artist Party, the suit states.
In January 2020, Civil invited Woo to attend her brunch at the Super Bowl in Miami and introduced the comedienne to others in the music industry to assist her in her career, the suit states.
Last August, Civil’s efforts enabled Woo to sing the national anthem at a Clippers playoff game, the suit states.
Last November, Civil and Ming Lee reached a deal with the Joe Budden Podcast Network to produce “Girl, I Guess,” which was well-received and has had more than a million streams since its Jan. 20 premiere, according to the suit.
Woo alleged in a tweet 11 days later that Civil had told her in a private conversation that a friend of Woo’s had stolen the plaintiff’s idea for a podcast, the suit states. Woo then went on to say Civil was actually the one who had lifted the idea for the plaintiff’s podcast from the defendant’s friend, according to the suit.
“What does Karen do besides steal?… My point still stands,” Woo tweeted, according to the suit.
Woo then issued multiple tweets accusing Civil of stealing, going into explicit detail about a private conversation that had taken place between them, according to the suit.
Woo subsequently tweeted an invitation to all her followers to message her to her personal Google Mail account about any time they may have personally witnessed any deceit by Civil or had been personally victimized by the plaintiff, the suit states.
Woo has “irreparably caused damage to Civil’s credibility as a social media and digital marketing strategist, damaging her brand and her potential to do business within the entertainment sphere,” the suit states.