Phoebe Bridgers Sued for Defamation Over Abuse Allegations

According to People, Chris Nelson, music producer and owner of Sound Space recording studio, filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter in Los Angeles. The complaint claims that Bridgers made comments on Instagram accusing Nelson of "racially motivated hate crimes," as well as having personally witnessed "grooming, stealing [and] violence" by him.

Nelson's lawsuit argues that he and his then-girlfriend, Emily Bannon, started having a consensual sexual relationship with Bridgers in 2018. Nelson later broke up with Bannon in late 2019, but she continued dating Bridgers with the suit claiming the two allegedly had a past relationship that involved Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst. Bridgers and Bannon have never confirmed a relationship, but the two were spotted together in 2020 at GQ's "Men of the Year" party.

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Court documents state that in October 2020, Bridgers allegedly wrote she "witnessed and can personally verify" Nelson's abusive behavior and directed to Bannon's account, which is where the accusations of racially motivated hate crimes stem from. In addition to allegedly beating "a young Latinx man to death," Nelson was also accused of defrauding buyers by selling fake rare guitars, stealing $50,000 from a neighbor and hacking women's e-mail accounts, per the legal filings.

Nelson is seeking $3.8 million in damages for alleged defamation, false light, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and intentional interference with prospective economic relations. The lawsuit argues, "Bridgers maliciously and intentionally posted the false and defamatory statements about [Nelson] as part of a vendetta to destroy [Nelson's] reputation that was enflamed by Bridgers and Bannon's sexual relationship."

Bridgers nor any of her representatives have yet to comment.

Photo via Getty/ Astrida Valigorsky