Patrick Reed, one of LIV Golf’s latest and most prominent PGA Tour defectors, is suing Golf Channel and network commentator Brandel Chamblee for $750 million, claiming Chamblee defamed him with comments about the Saudi-backed series. Reed’s attorneys filed the suit Tuesday in federal court in Houston.
Reed alleges that he and other LIV Golf players have been “smeared” by Golf Channel, the PGA Tour and Chamblee as part of a conspiracy to damage their images and harm their professional advancement.
In the lawsuit, Reed claims he has lost “multiple multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals as a result of the continuous harm that Brandel Chamblee and NBC’s Golf Channel have inflicted and continue to inflict.”
From the filing:
These calculated, malicious, false and/or reckless attacks have had a direct effect on Mr. Reed’s and his family’s livelihood and he has suffered major damages through the loss of not just one, but multiple multi-million dollar sponsorship deals as a result of the continuous harm that Brandel Chamblee and NBC’s Golf Channel’s have inflicted and continue to inflict upon Mr. Reed with defamatory publications that are false and/or made with a reckless disregard for the truth. …
Defendants acting together in concert, along with the PGA Tour, have agreed to and in fact sought to eliminate Mr. Reed, LIV, and other golfers signed to LIV as competitors by maliciously defaming them and smearing their reputations
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The filing also takes aim at Chamblee’s standing as a former golfer, saying that Chamblee’s resume as a player doesn’t compare to Reed’s, which in turn has led Chamblee to conduct a smear campaign against him and other LIV players.
(Chamblee) fell far short of ever rising to the accomplished level of Mr. Reed, and the current analyst for Golf Channel, has become Golf Channel’s primary mouthpiece and agent to push this defamatory agenda and inflict severe damage to Mr. Reed, LIV, and other golfers signed with LIV.
The filing also includes references to LeBron James, Skip Bayless and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The PGA Tour has been under fire from LIV golfers since the Tour suspended them indefinitely for joining the series. A federal judge recently refused to grant LIV players a temporary restraining order so they could compete in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs.
One of Reed’s attorneys is Larry Klayman, who has lost several high-profile defamation cases and filed a deportation petition against then-President Barack Obama.
Reed is searching for a massive payday:
For general (non-economic), special (economic), actual and compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by the jury in an amount in excess of $750,000,000.00 US dollars, as well as injunctive relief.
Reed, a one-time major winner (Masters, 2018), finished tied for 47th in the Open Championship in July.