As Promised, Sean Salisbury Files Lawsuit Against Deadspin

Sean Salisbury might not be particularly adept at banging out e-mails on an iPhone, but through the misspelled missives and unhinged diatribes he kept his word. This week Salisbury filed a lawsuit against Deadspin for causing him to lose his ESPN job, and later a Dallas radio gig, and damaging his reputation in the process.

Salisbury left ESPN in February 2008, and he was fired from 105.3 The Fan last month.

A few weeks later, Deadspin posted a lengthy e-mail exchange with Salisbury, who vowed legal action: "I just want u to know ur guys lies and carelessness about CBS and espn stories has not only ruined my reputation but has cost me jobs so prepare urself for a lawsuit so big I will own deadpan ..."

And that's exactly what happened. Via the McKinney Courier-Gazette:

Salisbury's attorney, Jeffrey Tillotson of the Dallas law firm Lynn, Tillotson, Pinker & Cox, said in the petition that Deadspin has waged a "long-running smear campaign" against his client since January of 2007. ...

"Unburdened by the truth or any pretense of journalistic standards, Deadspin ignored the facts and instead repeated the malicious lie that Mr. Salisbury 'allegedly' engaged in 'sexting,' which prompting his firing," the petition read. "In the weeks since Mr. Salisbury's departure from The Fan, Deadspin has continued to taunt Mr. Salisbury in emails from Deadspin contributors and has even mockingly asked Mr. Salisbury why he has not filed suit. Deadspin now has its answer."

The Courier-Gazette also reports that "Tommy Craggs, a senior writer for Deadspin, said he could not comment on the lawsuit at this time."

It's been a tough week for Deadspin. A Friday afternoon lawsuit somehow seems fitting.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-24-2009 @ 12:37AM

VN said...

Good. As much as I despise Salisbury, nothing would make me happier than seeing scumbags like AJ Daulerio have to answer for their lack of integrity.

Deadspin is an embarrassment to the blogging community. Its the TMZ of sports blogging, right along with ProFootballTalk. Its a shame because 9 out of 10 posts on Deadspin and PFT are great material, but that one post of "OMG THIS GIRL HAD SEX AT ESPN, WOWZORZ!" pretty much ruins the site.

10-24-2009 @ 8:41AM

Randy said...

Good for Sean, it's a shame he couldn't just go down to the offices at Deadspin and visit with those losers in person and work things out!

10-24-2009 @ 9:48AM

celmayster said...

Why any credibility is given to deadspin is the real question. Just look at their criteria to comment WHICH FLIES IN THE FACE OF MOST OF THE DRIBBLE THE PROVIDE. OBAMA SHOULD BE GOING AFTER THEM RATHER THAN FOX, BECAUSE DEADSPIN DOES NOT REPORT SPORTS NEWS ANY MORE THAN THE NATIONAL ENQUIERER REPORTS REAL NEWS:

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