Phoebe Bridgers hit with lawsuit by music producer over alleged defamation

Phoebe Bridgers is facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit for allegedly spreading false information.

Sound Space studio owner Chris Nelson filed a lawsuit against the 27-year-old Grammy Award winner on Monday. In the report, Nelson accused Bridgers of allegedly spreading false information about him, including accounts of fraud, theft, and "racially-motivated hate crimes".

According to the filing, obtained by editors at People, the producer and the Kyoto singer met years ago, but did not work together. In 2019, the singer allegedly "began having consensual sexual encounters" with Nelson and his then-partner, Emily Bannon. When the couple split up the following year, Bridgers allegedly continued seeing Bannon.

Last October, the complaint states that the singer pointed followers of her Instagram account to Bannon's page, where she allegedly accused the producer of "beating a young Latinx man to death," as well as defrauding rare guitar collectors, stealing thousands of dollars from neighbours, and hacking women's email accounts.

Though Bridgers did not make the claims herself, the producer believes that she "maliciously and intentionally posted the false and defamatory statements about (Nelson) as part of a vendetta to destroy (Nelson's) reputation that was enflamed by Bridgers and Bannon's sexual relationship," according to the filing.

Nelson is asking for a minimum of $3.8 million (£2.8 million) for alleged defamation, false light, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and intentional interference with prospective economic relations.

Representatives for Bridgers have not yet commented on the lawsuit.