Patrick Reed surprised the golf public with this morning’s news. Namely, this great golfer decided (as reported by RTE) to sue the Golf Channel and their analyst, Brandel Chamblee, for defamation. What is also interesting is that Reed is asking for 750 million dollars for damages.
Patrick Reed is part of the controversial LIV Golf series, which has been heavily criticized since its inception. In one part of the complaint it is written; “Chamblee and the network have been actively targeting Reed since he was 23 years old, to destroy his reputation, create hate and a hostile work environment for him, and with the intention to discredit his name and accomplishments as a young, elite, world- class golfer”.
The second part of the complaint states that the Golf Channel sought to increase viewership, ratings and revenue by criticizing Reed. “It is well known on tour that Mr Reed has been abused and endured more than any other golfer from fans or spectators who have been allowed to scream obscenities only to be glorified by NBC’s Golf Channel for doing so, because it gets Defendants Chamblee and Golf Channel ‘clicks’, viewership, ratings and increased revenue.”
complaint; Patrick Reed
The complaint states that Chamblee sought to gain popularity and increase ratings by criticizing Reed. In doing so, he damaged Reed, his dignity as well as LIV Golf “Chamblee is a former professional golfer who fell far short of ever rising to the accomplished level of Mr. Reed.
He 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”. We will see in the end what the outcome will be.
Reed is clearly frustrated with Chamblee’s behavior and the Golf Channel’s policies. Now there remains the force of arguments and evidence about everything. The court will give the final word.