Last year, music’s busiest nerd, Anthony Fantano, posted a critique video of Ronnie Radke of Falling in Reverse titled “This Guy Sucks“. In the video, Fantano dives into Radke’s controversial past and critiques how he carries himself today.

Radke didn’t take kindly to the video and filed a defamation suit against Fantano, with the lawsuit stating:

“Fantano’s nearly eight-minute verbal tirade regarding Radke——whom the defendant does not know and has never even met——goes beyond the bounds of permissible commentary and extends into the realm of actionable innuendo, unfounded rumormongering and outright untruth.”

Well, Radke lost. A Connecticut state judge, Rupal Shah, dismissed the case, ruling that Fantano was exercising free speech protected under the First Amendment.

Now, Radke has posted a video titled I LOST MY LAWSUIT WITH ANTHONY FANTANO in what appears to be an attempt to save face, aimed at discrediting some of the claims made in Fantano’s original video. At one point, Radke says he has a message for Fantano directly, claiming he knows he’s watching. In his own words:

“I went into this lawsuit suing you because of this video and all this stuff… I went into this lawsuit, and my lawyers like, ‘you’re not gonna win this.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t care.’ And it’s all for this, man. So Anthony, I know you’re watching this. I know you’re probably getting a lot of shit for being racist, or whatever they’re saying you are.

And I’m gonna tell you right now, I don’t think Anthony’s racist. I don’t. I think Anthony Fantano said a bunch of weird, stupid shit, just like me. And I don’t think Anthony is a gang rapist. I don’t think Anthony is a domestic violence person. I don’t think Anthony is all those things. You know, what I do think Anthony is?

I think Anthony is a pretentious, insecure little baby that utilizes people for money so he can pay his rent in a negative way. That’s what I think. And that’s what his YouTube has become. It’s one of those things.”

Radke continued later in the same vein:

“I just really wish that [Fantano] would retract what he said and apologize for implying all these things, but he won’t. Because that’s exactly what a narcissist actually would do. For me, people think that I’m insane, right? They think that I’m doing all this stuff because I’m insecure, like responding to people online. Guys, it’s not that serious. I respond to people online because they say the same things that Anthony was implying—that I’m a gang rapist or that I’m a bad person or, you know, sometimes ‘your music sucks.’ I’m just being funny.

The only way I can respond is to be funny to these people. The stuff that you don’t see me talk about—if I’m not responding—those are the things that are making me mad. This video really pissed me off because — and it pissed off a lot of people — it implies to the people that are watching this, the NPCs that follow Anthony Fantano and wait for him to give them their opinion on what they like, they’re not going to go do their research. They’re just going to go, ‘Wow, he really gang raped somebody.’ ‘Wow, he really is transphobic.’ ‘Wow, he is a racist.’

This is why I sued him, and this is the point that I’m making. I knew I was going to lose the lawsuit. It’s not a big deal. It’s just a defamation suit. The reason I did this is so I can put this out, so I can put something out and say my piece before Anthony does. Because you know, Anthony is going to put some video together so he can gain views to pay his rent.

I wanted to put this out and say my piece. So if you’re watching this and you’re not a fan and you hate my guts, I really hope that even if you’re not a fan, you can really understand where I’m coming from, because it’s really fucked up, and I don’t think anybody should ever do that. I would never make a video about how Anthony Fantano was racist, allegedly, you know what I mean—I would never do that.”

Watch Radke’s full statement on the lawsuit and his personal thoughts on Fantano below.

 

In other Radke news, it looks like he now has a Muppet-style puppet of himself, which will reportedly be sold on Falling in Reverse’s website…Jim Henson is surely rolling in his grave.

Meanwhile, Falling in Reverse appears to be canceling some upcoming arena shows—most notably in Texas and Virginia. Fans on Reddit have reported that Ticketmaster notified them of the cancellations, though no official statement has been released by the band at this time.

[via PRP]