Mark Waid’s Legal Defense Fund
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The Mark Waid Legal Defense Fund
FINAL UPDATE 12/22/20: Hello and happy holidays. I have a final update for you on the lawsuit. Today, the plaintiff and I are issuing a joint statement, as follows:
“On September 19, 2018, plaintiff Richard Meyer filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against defendant Mark Waid that asserted claims of tortious interference with contract and defamation arising out of the intended publication of a comic book by Antarctic Press entitled ‘Jawbreakers.’ Following jurisdictional discovery and motions practice, a First Amended Complaint was filed on July 24, 2019.
Since the filing of the lawsuit, ‘Jawbreakers’ has been successfully published and COVID-19 has significantly impacted the world around us. Upon consideration of all the circumstances, the parties have jointly decided that it is in the best interests of all concerned, and the comic book community at large, for this litigation to end and Mr. Meyer has decided to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit. Neither party has admitted any liability or responsibility, can claim to have achieved any victory and both have agreed to assume their own fees and costs.
With the dismissal of the lawsuit, the parties have executed a confidential agreement and have no interest in continuing this dispute in the public arena or anywhere else.”
Again, each and every one of you has my gratitude. Special thanks to Evelyn Kriete, who originally helped me set up this campaign; to Hector Navarro and the Nerdist superstars who helped promote it; to superstar lawyers Michael Finn, Mark Zaid, Ryan Pierce, and Beverly Reeves; and to Glenn Herdling and so many of my other friends for sound counsel.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
My name is Mark Waid. I’m a New York Times-bestselling comics writer. In September of this year, I was sued by one of the perceived leaders of a relentless online harassment movement called “ComicsGate” which I and many comics professionals strongly feel has unfairly and offensively targeted women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ creators working in our industry in an effort to make them feel unwelcome. (You can read more about some perspectives on ComicsGate and its harassment techniques in the Washington Post and on Inverse.) I firmly believe this lawsuit is an effort to silence those of us who stand up publicly against bigotry and racism and who continue to defend diverse creators from harassment.
If you like, you can learn more about the specifics of the lawsuit at, among other places, the Daily Dot . You can learn more about ComicsGate's tactics here , here , and (my favorite!) here , and I encourage you to visit my website markwaid.com for further details.
Even though I am confident that the claims made against me are entirely without merit, lawsuits are time-consuming and very expensive. Still, I have never backed down from bullies, especially those who denigrate my friends, colleagues and the values our community stands for, and while I am not a rich man, you have my solemn promise that I will fight this fight no matter the personal cost.
We won't know until this goes before a judge whether or not my ask will be enough to pay my expenses--so feel free to keep donating and sharing. Any excess, if there ends up being any, will be donated to an appropriate anti-harassment campaign and donors will be updated.
If you believe, as I do, that women and people of color deserve to be able to do their jobs—or any job—without being bullied, donate. Stand with me. If you believe that someone's gender or sexual preference should have no bearing on the career they pursue, donate. Send that message.
This isn’t just about me; it's about standing together in the face of bullying. Every day that we don't push back against online harassment, it only becomes nastier and more powerful. For the first week, you could see that much just in the comments section here, which I was eventually forced to close once ComicsGaters went into full attack mode.
This is an important fight. Thank you for having my back.
Organizer
Mark Waid
Organizer
Santa Monica, CA