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TMZ Sued For Misidentifying Wu-Tang Clan Rapper Who Cut His Penis Off
Wu-Tang Clan performs at the 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
A defamation lawsuit has been brought against TMZ for misidentifying the Wu-Tang Clan-affiliated rapper who cut off his own penis.
TMZ's April 2014 story initially identified Marques Johnson (known professionally as Andre Roxx) as the artist in question, despite the fact that Johnson was actually in prison at the time. The story was actually about a totally different Wu-Tang Clan-affiliated rapper, albeit one with a similar name.
TMZ later rewrote the story to clarify that the man who had cut off his own penis and then jumped off a second-story balcony was actually Andre Johnson (known professionally as Christ Bearer), but by then the news had already spread across the internet. The Hollywood Reporter reports that a defamation lawsuit was filed yesterday in Delaware federal court. TMZ's codefendants in the suit include the parent companies of a number of outlets who ran with the incorrect story, including the television show Extra, Radio One, the New York Daily News, Urban Daily and Barstool Sports, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The plaintiff, who was in prison when the story broke, says he was forced to go into protective custody after other inmates began harassing him. He also said being attached to the story has hurt his career.
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