“I’ll take CNN for $50 million, Alex.”

The Mark Robinson coverage is awash in talk of porn sites and video stores.  Meanwhile, the Balanced Nutrition saga — which suggests possible mishandling of millions in tax dollars — languishes quietly over at DHHS.

Earlier this week, Mark Robinson and one of his attorneys held a press conference where they unveiled a $50 million lawsuit against CNN and one former X-rated video store employee from Greensboro.  

Interestingly, one of the two lawyers — Anthony Biller –handling the suit for Robinson is also representing Balanced Nutrition in its dealings with the NC Department of Health & Human Services.  You could probably make a case for having the campaign pay for the CNN suit.  But you’d have a tougher time making that case for the Balanced Nutrition work.  

The Robinson filing contains more than a few interesting passages:

[…] Parties

2. Lieutenant Governor Mark Keith Robinson (“Lt. Gov. Robinson”) is an
individual who is a resident and citizen of North Carolina and maintains his office at
the Hawkins-Hartness House at 310 North Blount Street, Raleigh for his work as the
Lieutenant Governor. He is the first black man to hold that title in North Carolina
and is the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina.

3. Defendant Cable News Network, Inc. (“CNN”) is a Delaware
corporation, with its headquarters in Georgia. CNN purports itself to be “The Most
Trusted Name in News” and is one of the world’s most well-recognized media
companies. CNN’s broad network of television, website, social media accounts, and
digital networks reaches millions of people in North Carolina. CNN has a bureau in
Charlotte, North Carolina, is registered with the North Carolina Secretary of State
as a foreign corporation authorized to do business in North Carolina, and maintains
a registered agent in Raleigh, North Carolina.

4. Defendant Louis Love Money (“Money”) is an individual who is a
resident and citizen of North Carolina and resides in Guilford County. He is 52 years
old, sings in a local punk rock band called Trailer Park Orchestra, and appears to
have changed his name from Louis Alen Wooten. […]

It’s a bit of a head-scratcher as to why Robinson’s team is not naming The Assembly website as a defendant in their filing.  The video store employee could not have successfully communicated his story nationally or internationally without the assistance of The Assembly, run by one of the former bosses at The N&O and staffed by a lot of former writers for Chris Fitzsimmon’s websites, The N&O, and The Independent Weekly.  

(I know we have some attorneys who regularly follow this site.  Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts on why The Assembly might be getting a pass.) 

MORE:

[…] The Defamatory Statements

8. On August 11, 2024, Defendant Money released a music video on
YouTube—his band’s first in three years—titled “The Lt. Governor Owes Me Money”
(the “Music Video”). In the Music Video, a man in a suit, wearing a generic rubber
mask of a black man, intended to depict Lt. Gov. Robinson, enters a pornography
video store to view and purchase pornographic videos. In the Music Video, Defendant
Money repeatedly addresses the song to “Mark” and to “Mr. Robinson,” further
identifying the subject as the “first black man” to hold the title of lieutenant governor.
The lyrics of the song falsely accuse Lt. Gov. Robinson of owing money for a “bootleg”
porn video that Defendant Money supposedly produced for him, which is the basis for
the song’s title. […]

Wow.  As though that music video needed even more publicity. (*Brace yourselves, YouTube!*) 

MORE: 

[…] 9. Within weeks of this then-obscure, barely-viewed Music Video beingpublished, Defendant Money was interviewed by a major online publication withlinks to George Soros, The Assembly. This resulted in an article published onSeptember 3, 2024, titled “Ex-Porn Shop Employees Say Mark Robinson Was ARegular. He Denies It.” (the “Assembly Article”).

In the Assembly Article, Defendant Money falsely alleges that in the 1990s and early 2000s—when Lt. Gov. Robinsonwas already a married father of two children—Robinson was a “frequent customer”at a pornographic video store where Money worked. According to Defendant Money’s
outrageously false allegations, Lt. Gov. Robinson, for “several years,” hung out at the
X-rated video store “five nights a week”—sometimes until 4:00 a.m.—“spending a good amount of money,” paying $8 per video to preview “two or more” porn videos a night in a private booth, and purchasing “hundreds” of “bootleg” porn videos for $20–$25 a piece. According to Defendant Money, these bootleg videos were “superhardcore” and compiled from videos too risqué or extreme to sell in North Carolina.

Echoing his false allegations from the Music Video, Defendant Money once again
claims that Lt. Gov. Robinson owes him money for one of these bootleg porn videos.

10. These false allegations from the Music Video and the Assembly Article
are hereinafter referred to collectively as the “Defendant Money Defamatory
Statements.”

11. Sixteen days after the Assembly Article , CNN published an article,
salaciously titled “‘I’m a black NAZI!’: NC GOP nominee for governor made dozens of
disturbing comments on porn forum” (the “CNN Article”). In the CNN Article, CNN
falsely attributes statements allegedly made on a pornographic website,
NudeAfrica.com, under the username “minisoldr” as being authored by Lt. Gov.
Robinson. These falsely attributed statements include several lewd, sex-obsessed,
racist, and outrageous statements, including the comment from the title of the article,
“I’m a black NAZI!”

CNN claims that these statements are only a “selection” and a
“small portion” of graphic statements it attributes to Lt. Gov. Robinson from the
NudeAfrica website, suggesting that the withheld statements are even more obscene
than those included in the CNN Article. The CNN Article also falsely claims that Lt.
Gov. Robinson, as a married man, created an account on AdultFriendFinder.com,
which is a website used to find sexual partners. […]

15. In the 1990s, Mark Robinson was a young father, struggling to provide

for his family. During this period, he worked at Papa John’s pizza, eventually being
promoted to manager, where he sometimes managed the closing shift. Nearby was an
adult video store where Defendant Money worked.

Lt. Gov. Robinson, who has always been a gregarious, outgoing person, made friends with Defendant Money, who also worked the night shift. He would occasionally bring over free pizza and socialize. More often, however, Defendant Money would come over to the Papa John’s, looking for free or discounted pizza. […]

Hmmm.  Making friends with the guy at the X-rated video store.  *I’m suuuuuuuuuuure the wife was quite understanding about that.*

MORE:

[…] 16. Contrary to the portrayal by Defendant Money, Lt. Gov. Robinson was
not spending hours at the video store, five nights a week. He was not renting or
previewing videos, and he did not purchase “bootleg” or other videos from Defendant
Money.

When Robinson managed the closing shift, usually closing at around
midnight, he went home after work so that he could wake up at a reasonable hour
and spend time with his wife and two young children. Robinson stopped working at
Papa John’s in or about early 2001, and from then until 2022 he never saw Defendant
Money again.[…]