The family of Nick Sandmann, the teenager in the middle of the now-notorious encounter between a Native American man and several high school students wearing “Make America Great Again” hats, has hired a prominent libel attorney.
The family hired Atlanta-based lawyer L. Lin Wood on Thursday, family attorney Todd McMurtry confirmed to TheWrap. Wood has been called a “smooth-talking Southern attorney” that has “carved out a successful career representing the high-profile and falsely accused,” according to The Washington Post in 2011.
Wood represented former Republican presidential nominee Herman Cain after his campaign was derailed by sexual harassment claims, and also represented the family of JonBenet Ramsey, who were suspected in the murder of the child pageant queen.
Wood “is committed to bringing justice to 16-year-old Nick Sandmann and his family,” McMurtry told TheWrap in a statement.
Sandmann has been skewered by many as a racist in the last week, after a brief clip appeared to show his Covington Catholic classmates mocking and surrounding Nathan Phillips, a Native American military veteran, at the Indigenous Peoples’ March in Washington, D.C. Sandmann became the face of the Covington students for smiling in front of Phillips for several minutes, as Phillips banged a drum and sang. Sandmann’s smirk was called “the smirk of privilege” by Esquire.
The encounter enraged many others in the media. A GQ writer called on his followers to doxx the teenagers — a claim he later retracted — and a Vulture writer expressed his wish to see them die. Hollywood producer Jack Morrissey tweeted a graphic image (inspired by “Fargo”) imaging the Covington students being fed into a wood chipper, something he later apologized for. Comedian Kathy Griffin also called for her followers to doxx the teenagers. “I want NAMES. Shame them,” tweeted Griffin.
A much longer version of the incident later caused many to reconsider how they viewed the situation, though. A widely-shared article from Robby Soave at Reason.com on Sunday indicated the students, rather than intentionally invading Phillips’ space, were approached by him as he was banging his drum. The two-hour long video, as Soave pointed out, also called into question whether the students chanted “build the wall,” as Phillips claimed, or said anything racist. Phillips’ claim he was a Vietnam veteran was proven to be false, after it emerged he served in the Marine Corps. from 1972 to 1976 but wasn’t deployed.
Sandmann, appearing on the “Today” show on Wednesday, declined to apologize to Phillips.
“As far as standing there, I had every right to do so. My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips. I respect him. I’d like to talk to him,” Sandmann told “Today” host Savannah Guthrie. “But I can’t say that I’m sorry for listening to him and standing there.”
Phillips, in his own “Today” interview on Thursday, said Sandmann’s response was “coached and written up for him.”
11 Media Losers of 2018, From Les Moonves to Michael Avenatti (Photos)
2018 was hard for a lot of media folks, but particularly so for this rogues' gallery. For some, it was MeToo. For others, industry headwinds were too much. And for more still, disgrace and ignominy came after just saying the wrong thing.
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Les Moonves: Once celebrated for his leadership at CBS, Moonves faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct for which he was ultimately fired. CBS said in December that it would seek to deny him a roughly $120-million severance package.
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Laura Ingraham: Long a divisive figure (even on the right), the Fox News host might have avoided the losers' column were it not for a sponsor boycott launched against her by Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg in March. Months later, advertisers are still wary of appearing on the program.
Michael Ferro/Tronc: The leadership of Michael Ferro has now made Tronc synonymous with mismanagement. In addition to leaving the top job with a #MeToo scandal over his head, Ferro is now facing accusations of making anti-semitic remarks and paying off an LA Times editor who reportedly had the comments on tape.
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Media Publishers: From Mic.com on the left to The Weekly Standard on the right, publishers came in for a beating, with some closing up entirely. With few exceptions, legacy shops saw print sales decline, while digital-first properties continue to face the crushing economics of turning pageviews into profits.
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Breitbart: It's a name you probably haven't heard for a while. Once a key part of the engine which powered Trump's improbable election, the website had long fallen off most radars. A sustained pressure campaign against advertisers on the site by Sleeping Giants has also taken a bite out of revenue.
Marc Lamont Hill: Once a CNN regular, Hill lost his job as a contributor on the network after making remarks about Israel and Palestine at the UN that many called anti-semitic. A chummy photo with Louis Farrakhan -- who has compared Jews to termites -- didn't help matters for him either. He remains a tenured professor at Temple University.
CBS and "60 Minutes": Both the network and its marquee news program took a beating this year. "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager was forced out in a MeToo scandal, while details of an investigation launched by the network generally hit the press before reaching top management.
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Michael Avenatti: Just months ago, the lawyer representing Stormy Daniels in her legal fight with Donald Trump was considered a serious presidential contender. But his reputation took a hit after taking on a questionable MeToo claim against Brett Kavanaugh, and he disappeared for good after being booked on felony domestic violence charges in November (though he was not charged).
Andy Lack: The MSNBC/NBC News chief had a rough 2018. His network's decision to pass on Ronan Farrow's historic MeToo reporting continues to reverberate. His big bet on Megyn Kelly also flopped and became a multi-million dollar ulcer which still remains far from resolved.
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Gavin McInnes: Always on the fringes, McInnes had nevertheless carved a niche for himself as an online provocateur, a host on CRTV and as the head of his own (occasionally violent/racist) fraternal organization, The Proud Boys. By the end of 2018, he was banned from Twitter, dropped by CRTV and had resigned from The Proud Boys.
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Univision: Univision spent $135 million on Gawker Media back in 2016 and has spent most of the time since mismanaging the former properties and being called out by its own writers. Amid buyouts to editorial and broad layoffs elsewhere, Univision revealed it is looking to cut its losses and unload the websites once and for all.
2018 was a rough year for media, and for this rogues’ gallery, the damage was particularly catastrophic
2018 was hard for a lot of media folks, but particularly so for this rogues' gallery. For some, it was MeToo. For others, industry headwinds were too much. And for more still, disgrace and ignominy came after just saying the wrong thing.