By Fred Johnson and Susan Bassi
Reporter’s Note and update: After consultation with attorneys familiar with the federal lawsuit and complaint, the Vanguard seeks to clarify the following: Only Allan Kassenoff and his children are seeking monetary damages from the suit. Kassenoff’s divorce attorney Gus Dimopoulos only joined the lawsuit for purposes of injunctive relief where he and Allan Kassenoff are seeking to restrain Harvey from future publications. The suit plainly alleges Harvey’s reporting was false, defamatory and misleading, including through the publishing process where Catherine Kassenoff’s original videos were edited and narrated over in the republishing process prior to publication on social media platforms.
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Allan Kassenoff and his divorce attorney, Gus Dimopoulos, have filed a federal defamation lawsuit against social media journalist and influencer Robbie Harvey. The New York attorneys are representing themselves and are seeking $150 million in damages, with an additional $15 million in damages on behalf of the Kassenoff children. The lawsuit claims Harvey’s reporting on Catherine Kassenoff’s medical suicide and the related Kassenoff divorce was reckless and caused them to be injured as a result.
The lawsuit raises public allegations of bribery and corruption related to Kassenoff’s family court proceedings. It also prompts questions about how family court cases are reported by mainstream and social media journalists.
The 105-page federal complaint lists six causes of action, including Defamation Per Se, General Defamation, Defamation by Implication, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Tortious Interference with a Business Relationship, and Cyberstalking on behalf of Mr. Kassenoff and Gus Dimopoulos.
In his complaint, Allan Kassenoff meticulously recounts intimate details of his marriage, efforts to adopt children, allegations of abuse by Catherine, and claims related to his former wife’s mental health.
Additionally, the complaint raises allegations of Allan’s former wife’s 2009 attempt to plan a “sting” operation. The sting allegedly involved Catherine Kassenoff going to a hotel room to secretly videotape an interaction with a former dating partner, with the intent to send the video to the ex-boyfriend’s wife to “destroy” him. It remains unclear how Kassenoff’s allegations against his wife, dating back nearly two decades, are relevant to the defamation claims Kassenoff brings against Harvey in 2023.
Allan Kassenoff was thrown into the public spotlight last Memorial Day weekend after his former wife posted videos of the couple’s interactions on her Facebook page, along with an explanation of her decision to end her life through medical suicide in connection with the couple’s high-conflict divorce, loss of custody of her children, and a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Robbie Harvey reported on Catherine’s post and republished the videos she published, which went viral on his social media platforms. Some videos ultimately reached over 30 million views. Harvey’s reporting on social media led to additional reporting on the Kassenoff divorce by Ms. Magazine, The New York Post, The Frank Report, and the Davis Vanguard.
As the complaint details, nearly 40 videos Harvey posted on TikTok alone garnered millions of views, likes, shares and comments. Public reaction to videos showing Allan Kassenoff’s interactions with his then-wife was not favorable to Allan.
Dimopoulos and Kassenoff claim that Harvey’s reporting was reckless and resulted in thousands of threatening emails and voicemails being sent to them. Specifically, they claim Nextiva, the company that provides phone services to Dimopoulos’s law firm, had an average call volume of 50-200 calls a day prior to Harvey’s reporting.
However, the lawsuit alleges, in the four days following Harvey’s publication of a June 10, 2023 video, the law firm received 7,742 phone calls. Dimopoulos additionally claims to have received 565 voicemails, most of which “threatened” him and called him a “scumbag” or used other vile language.
Kassenoff claims that Harvey’s reporting was harassing in nature, including when Harvey claimed that Shira Kraft, Allan Kassenoff’s girlfriend, was disparaging Ms. Kassenoff “all over the internet,” leading Harvey’s followers to attack her and contact her employers, demanding that she be fired.
Ironically, in making his allegations in federal court, Kassenoff has provided Harvey an opportunity to prove his statements were not false nor malicious. The lawsuit seemingly opens the door for Harvey to obtain communications between Kassenoff, his divorce attorney, as well as attorneys and therapists who were court-appointed in the couple’s divorce and central to Harvey’s reporting.
The defamation lawsuit provides an opportunity for mainstream and social media to address the complex issues related to family court and the modern world of journalism where social media journalists and influencers can elevate public conversations in a manner not previously seen in traditional newspaper and television reporting.
Multiple efforts were made to obtain a comment on the lawsuit from Allan Kassenoff, who ultimately declined to make a public statement. Robbie Harvey has not yet been served with a copy of the lawsuit and was unable to comment on allegations made in the complaint at the time of publication.
