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Philly Mag Writer Files Defamation Suit After Some Guy in a Delco Facebook Group Called Him a Pedophile
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Here’s a fantastic story from Abraham Gutman at the Inquirer:
When Victor Fiorillo isn’t writing for Philadelphia Magazine, he plays keyboard for a band led by a drag performer. That was enough for one Delco man to label the journalist as a pedophile in Facebook comments.
Ryan Nelson commented on a January post by Fiorillo in the Citizens of Delco public Facebook group, in which the reporter shared his article about a racial discrimination lawsuit against a country club restaurant.
“The only person to agree with you likes seeing dudes in dresses dance with kids,” Nelson wrote.
Fiorillo asked in return if the suggestion was that he was a pedophile because he performs with a drag queen.
“Yes victoria, corruption of a minor. Same as pedophile,” Nelson wrote, adding, “or do you prefer groomer.”
On Thursday, he filed a defamation lawsuit in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia against Nelson for his comments. The complaint accuses Nelson of being “a bigot and coward who hides behind his keyboard.”
There’s quite a bit going on here!
First things first, had no idea Victor Fiorillo played in a band with a male singer who dresses like a woman. What is this, Twisted Sister?
Second, the original article that sparked the Facebook fallout is titled Delco Country Club Restaurant Tavola Hit With Racial Discrimination Suit. Fiorillo makes a few snarky comments to start off, hearing from other people that the restaurant serves “mediocre” food at “inflated prices.” But the meat of the story is simply detailing what’s contained in a lawsuit from a black former server, and he does not share any personal opinions about whether or not the restaurant has a problem with non-white customers.
That seems to have been misinterpreted or simply not understood by a number of Facebook commenters, who called the story a “hatchet job” and Fiorillo himself a “hack” and other such names. Then there’s the exchange with Nelson, who gets into a couple of sidebar scuffles, for instance responding to a person named Ralph who called him a “fhknmagashit” by suggesting that Ralph is a “cuck” who should protest in Gaza.
Long story short, the comments are always a cesspool. We know this. We’ve all been called terrible things over the years, especially in group chats with our high school buddies. Does it justify filing a defamation lawsuit? Dunno. On one hand, maybe if this suit is successful, random Delco men will be less inclined to make toxic future accusations of pedophilia. On the other hand, you have the saying about sticks, stones, broken bones, and the lack of damage inflicted by words.
I wanna rock….. ROCK!
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com