Of course we reached out to Erik Tenkar (not his real last name, duh) and he knew about the case, but he didn't know the case. Evidently he hadn't been served yet.
While there isn't a lot of info to go on here, we'll have to push forward with some logical assumptions, based off of recent events we've not only documented, but have seen some responses to online. Since they are assumptions, agree, ...disagree, assume this blog is full of shit. Assume we've got it out for the guy and Ken "Whit" Whitman is a fine, upstanding individual that you'd love to trust with your money.....
......we think that'd be stupid, but what do we know? Just 10 fricken years of documenting...something?
Anyway....
.....here we have Boyle County (Kentucky) Case 26-CI-00051, with Kenny as plaintiff and Tenkar as Defendant. We have to assume this has to do with Erik calling him out on the Dungeons, Dragons, & Discourse Live! post of December 16th, 2025. Now it could be over the Tuesday Afternoon Livestream! because that's what he referenced in an AI generated "Cease & Desist" that we referenced in this post.
Thing is it really does seem like Kenny gets little things like facts and legal terms/requirements confused, so who knows precisely what his exact beef is, until Tenkar gets served and decides to share (we're not holding our breath on that). If it is about the Tuesday Afternoon Livestream! vlog, we hope he was a little more precise than "(published on or about January [insert date], 2026)" Judges and courts tend to prefer precision in these kinds of things....
Now I think most people would agree that a blog, or vlog, is general commentary/opinion, pretty much by design, but a Livestream....yeah a group of talking heads is definitely commentary or opinion....basically protected Free Speech. Sure, it is completely possible that Tekar's Tavern crossed over the line into defamatory territory, but after having watched that "episode", well this writer doesn't remember anything false and defamatory uttered. Might need to re-watch with a focus on that.
Of course this lawsuit might be about something completely different, and our assumption is way off base.
Thing is though.....and we have to continue along this assumption.....Defamation/Slander/Libel generally requires a couple key components:
- Statements have to be knowingly false
- Statement has to actually cause damages
I don't think anything that Erik might have said was both knowingly false and has caused damages. Again, we've been following Kenny for a decade now and I think it'd take a lot to cause Kenny any actual damages, unless you can count our (shared) opinion that Ken "Whit" Whitman is no longer able to scam the gaming community for more money because Tenkar's Tavern has helped educate said community, which ....coincidentally....is our sole mission here at Not Another Dime (for Ken Whitman). People actually interact with Tenkar's Tavern for other gaming news/content.
Generally speaking, the court has to have jurisdiction over the Defendant, and we're pretty sure that Erik Tenkar lives in New York. We're not even sure he's ever even been to Kentucky, much less to Boyle County! Again, there are possible arguments for Kentucky to be the appropriate venue, but not likely.
Lastly, Kentucky is actually on of the few states that has enacted an Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law that is known as Uniform Public Expression Protection Act. Here's the AI overview:
The Kentucky Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA), enacted on April 20, 2022, is a robust anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law designed to protect citizens from meritless, retaliatory lawsuits intended to stifle free speech. It allows individuals to file an expedited motion to dismiss lawsuits targeting speech, assembly, petitioning, and association, with mandatory attorney fees and costs awarded to the prevailing party.
Key Features of Kentucky's UPEPA:
Expedited Motion: Defendants must file a special motion to dismiss within 60 days of service.
Scope: Protects speech, press, petitioning, association, and gathering information related to public issues.
Mandatory Fees: If the defendant prevails, the court must award reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and litigation expenses.
Stay of Discovery: Generally, all discovery is stayed once the special motion is filed, protecting defendants from expensive, time-consuming pre-trial processes.
Bad Faith Standard: Recent amendments (HB 363) clarify that the court must find a party acted in bad faith to trigger certain penalties.
The Act applies to various forms of speech, including consumer reviews, and covers activities related to public, artistic, and journalistic, as well as governmental proceedings. It is considered one of the strongest anti-SLAPP statutes in the United States, providing comprehensive protection to citizens.
You know who doesn't have an Uniform Public Expression Protection Act law? New York. OK, we're only technically correct, because New York does have an Anti-SLAPP law (Civil Rights Law §§ 70-a, 76-a). We're completely guessing here, but we're thinking that Kenny is filing in Kentucky not because it's easier for him to do so, but because New York's statute would give Erik and opportunity to pursue punitive damages "upon an additional demonstration that the action involving public petition and participation was commenced or continued for the sole purpose of harassing, intimidating, punishing or otherwise maliciously inhibiting the free exercise of speech, petition or association rights."
0 comments :
Post a Comment
The comments on this blog are heavily moderated as this location is simply a one-stop-shop for finding pertinent information otherwise scattered across the internet. If you need to comment on a particular post, please try to do it where the information originated.