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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
S.C.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
DIRTY WORLD, LLC, a foreigncorporation; NIK RICHIE, anindividual,
Defendants.
Case No: 4:11-cv-392
AFFIDAVIT OF NIK-LAMASRICHIE IN SUPPORT OFDEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
I, NIK LAMAS-RICHIE, declare as follows:
1. My name is NIK LAMAS-RICHIE. I am a resident of the State of
California, am over the age of 18 years, and if called to testify in court I could and would
truthfully testify to the following information based upon my own personal knowledge.
2. I am currently employed as the manager of Defendant DIRTY WORLD,
LLC (“Dirty World”) which owns and operates the website www.TheDirty.com . In
addition to acting as editor-in-chief of www.TheDirty.com , I am also the founder and
creator of a website called www.DirtyScottsdale.com which I started in March 2007.
3. When I first started www.DirtyScottsdale.com , the site was focused almost
entirely on Scottsdale, Arizona. Initially, I used the site as a forum to post my thoughts,
comments and observations about a variety of topics that I felt were interesting, important,
or deserving of criticism such as certain “fake” (a/k/a “dirty”) residents of Scottsdale.
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4. The typical subject matter for my early posts on www.DirtyScottsdale.com
was anything “dirty” or humorous, such as drunken people making fools of themselves in
public; i.e., an intoxicated college student urinating on a public sidewalk or someone
passed out on a toilet in a bar.
5. Another favorite subject was the “$30k millionaire”—this is a derogatory
term used to refer to young people (usually males in their early 20s) who live far beyond
their financial means—driving expensive cars they cannot afford and living a lavish
lifestyle often funded by maxed-out credit cards. I focused my criticism on $30k
millionaires because I genuinely believe this overly materialistic lifestyle is socially
destructive and morally unacceptable. For those same reasons, I also frequently posted
stories about “beer-bong-chugging athletes, puking co-eds, drunken drivers and
provocatively posing clubbers”; basically anyone who acted stupidly or attempted to
attract unwarranted attention to themselves was a potential subject of discussion and
criticism on www.DirtyScottsdale.com .
6. I started the www.DirtyScottsdale.com website in my spare time, with
almost no money, working mainly from home. At first, the site had only a tiny amount of
traffic – maybe a few hundred visitors per day. Within a very short period of time, the
site began receiving local media coverage from television stations such as Fox 10 and
ABC 15 in Phoenix, both of which ran lengthy news stories about the site in mid-2007.
7. In 2008, the site began receiving national media coverage, and as a result
our traffic exploded literally overnight. In December 2008, the Arizona Republic ran an
article about me and the site, naming me “One of 2008’s Most Intriguing Arizonans” and
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stating: “what makes him interesting is that his site has prompted a dialogue about public
and private space and about what is and is not celebrity.”
8. As of April 2011, the website now receives an average of 18 million hits per
month or around 600,000 hits per day. As the site increased in popularity, it expanded to
cover more than 50 different U.S. cities and more than 20 cities in Canada. In the process,
the site adopted a more geographically neutral name— www.TheDirty.com .
9. As the site has grown, its focus and format has changed. In the beginning, I
created nearly all of the content posted on the site and, in fact, it was impossible for users
to upload anything directly to the site. This is no longer true. For the last several years,
users of the site have been permitted to “submit dirt” which can include news, photos,
video or text. Users can also post their own comments about material submitted by
others. The majority of stories, photos and material appearing on www.TheDirty.com are
now comprised of submissions uploaded directly to the site by third party users.
10. Users of www.TheDirty.com may submit posts to the site on any topic
whatsoever.
11. As of May 2011, www.TheDirty.com contains more than 75,000 unique
posts on a wide variety of topics.
12. Many posts submitted to www.TheDirty.com relate to stories, news, gossip
and other forms of commentary about local individuals who are not public figures, but not
all posts are of this type. On the contrary, in addition to posts about “non-celebrities”,
material appearing on www.TheDirty.com covers an extremely broad variety of more
ordinary topics including, but not limited to:
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a. President Barack Obama ; see Exhibit A ;
b. Donald Trump ’s presidential campaign; see Exhibit B ;
c. Politicians playing solitaire; see Exhibit C ;
d. Sports , including the 2010 World Series; see Exhibit D ;
e. Stories involving the arrest of celebrities ; see Exhibit E ;
f. L.A. Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant ; see Exhibit F ;
g. Falling values of U.S. dollars vs. Canadian dollars ; see Exhibit G ;
h. Myself; see Exhibit H .
13. Attached hereto as Exhibit I are screenshots showing the form located at
http://thedirty.com/submit_a_tip/ that a visitor to the site can use to submit news, tips, or
similar “dirt” to the site. As reflected in these screenshots, the form is 100% content
neutral; it does not ask users to post anything about any particular individual, nor does the
site suggest what the author should say. The only instructions given by the site are as
follows: “ Tell us what’s happening. Remember to tell us Who, What, When, Where, Why. ”
The form reflected in Exhibit I was in place on the site during all of 2010.
14. As part of the submission process, users are asked to enter a “title” for their
submission, along with basic information about the material they are submitting.
Specifically, users are asked to identify the “City”, “College”, and “Category” for their
submission.
15. In terms of categories, the user is required to pick from a list of more than
40 different options provided by the site which include: “I HAVE NO IDEA”, “Business”,
“News”, “Spring Break” and “Would You?”.
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16. The last category—“Would You?”—is generally understood to apply to
requests for me to express an opinion as to whether I would be romantically interested in
the person submitted; e.g. , “Would you date this person?”
17. I do not take these requests literally, and in my opinion, neither does anyone
else who regularly visits www.TheDirty.com . As I frequently mention on the site and as
a matter of common knowledge among my viewers, I am very happily married to a
wonderful, beautiful and famous television celebrity named Shayne Lamas-Richie.
18. Whenever I receive a submission in the “Would You?” category, I generally
post a short editorial comment below the submission which includes my personal critique
of the woman depicted. My response is nearly always the same—NO! It makes no
difference how attractive or unattractive the person depicted may be.
19. By rejecting 99.9999999% of all such submissions, I am attempting to use
obvious hyperbole to place everyone on an equal playing field and thereby illustrate an
important point about the absurdity and fallacy of today’s perfection-seeking culture. In
other words, no matter how physically perfect someone might think they are, it’s never
possible to literally be perfect. On the contrary, striving to reach unattainable physical
goals is often a self-destructive and self-defeating exercise in futility. My comments in
response to any “Would You?” submissions are intended to illustrate that viewpoint.
20. Regardless of the category selected by a user for his/her submission, in most
cases I will briefly review each new submission to ensure that inappropriate or unduly
offensive material is removed such as threats of violence, profanity, racial slurs, etc.
Despite this, I cannot and do not “fact-check” user submissions for accuracy.
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21. I am aware that this case arises from a single post on www.TheDirty.com
about the Plaintiff which was submitted to the site by a third party on January 24, 2011
bearing the title “Nasty Church Girl” (the “Church Girl Post”). A true and correct copy o
this post (excluding subsequent comments by users which I do not understand to be part
of this action) is attached hereto as Exhibit J .
22. I did not create or modify any part of the Church Girl Post or its title. The
text in the body of the Post and the title was created entirely by a third party user of
www.TheDirty.com and the Post was published exactly as it was submitted to the site
without any changes other than an introduction which read “ THE DIRTY ARMY: ” to
accurately reflect that the Post was submitted to the site by a third party user.
23. Regular visitors to www.TheDirty.com often refer to themselves as “The
Dirty Army” which is a generic term applicable to any “fans” of the website.
24. I do not personally know and has never knowingly spoken to the author of
the Church Girl Post.
25. I did nothing to specifically induce the author to create the Church Girl Post
about Plaintiff.
26. I do not know Plaintiff and prior to the commencement of this action had
never heard of Plaintiff.
27. Because the Church Girl post was submitted in the category “Would You?”,
I posted a single-sentence response to that question which read as follows: “Her gumlines
[sic] as big as her teeth, that’s amazing. - nik.”
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28. My comment about the Plaintiff’s “gumline” was a reference to her physical
appearance in a photo submitted by the author of the post. In the photo, Plaintiff’s
gumline is plainly visible.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the
United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct.
EXECUTED ON: May 12, 2011.
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit A
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/sc-v-dirty-world-llc-affidavit-of-nik-lamas-richie-in-support-of-defendants 10/29
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/sc-v-dirty-world-llc-affidavit-of-nik-lamas-richie-in-support-of-defendants 11/29
Exhibit B
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit C
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit E
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit F
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit G
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit H
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit I
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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Exhibit J
8/6/2019 S.C. v. Dirty World, LLC - Affidavit of Nik Lamas-Richie In Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment
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