Actor James Woods Gloats Over Death Of Random Twitter Troll He Sued To Unmask [Updated]
from the stay-classy dept
See the update at the end…
Actor James Woods is an asshole. Let’s just put that front and center. As you may recall, a little over a year ago, Woods sued a random Twitter user who went by the pseudonym “Abe List.” “List” frequently mocked Woods, including calling him “clown-boy” and a “cocaine addict.” Woods then sued for defamation, demanding $10 million, and tried to unmask List. This was ridiculous for any number of reasons, not the least of which is calling much more attention to what a thin-skinned jackass Woods is from anonymous Twitter users. But, more importantly, such hyperbolic statements in an internet forum are not defamation — rhetorical hyperbole certainly doesn’t meet the standard for defamation of a public figure. On top of that, trying to unmask an anonymous speaker is really, really sketchy, and there’s a very high bar.
Oh, and did we mention that Woods himself has a long history of similar rhetorical hyperbole on Twitter, including making statements about others smoking crack?
California, of course, has a strong anti-SLAPP law, and Abe List, with the help of lawyers Lisa Bloom and Ken “Popehat” White, sought to use it to get the case kicked out. While the judge initially agreed that Woods’ lawsuit was a SLAPP suit, he eventually changed his mind, and said that Woods could find out who Abe List really is. List appealed to California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal soon after that ruling earlier this year. Since then the case had moved forward with both sides filing opening briefs.
However, apparently “List” just died. There are no details, but List passed away — and with it, the case is over. The court docket shows that on Thursday, his lawyers filed for the case to be dismissed based on List’s death and the court quickly dismissed the case and closed it. No matter what you think of anything, this is not a great situation. Someone died.
And total asshole James Woods decided to not just gloat about it, but to rub everyone’s face in it. First, he pretended that the dismissal was because he was going to win the case:
That’s so obnoxious that you might even overlook the fact that Woods here flat out admits he filed a SLAPP lawsuit.
Bloom, quite reasonably offended, pointed out that her pseudononymous client had died and it’s pretty obnoxious to gloat over a default victory like that.
Just to put an exclamation point on what a total and complete jackass he is, Woods responded to others pointing out that the client died by gleefully celebrating his death and hoping it was “in agony.”
He doubled down on that with another person, talking about how he’ll follow people “to the bowels of hell.”
That’s sickening. Like, literally. I feel ill. What kind of person would celebrate anyone’s death? Even someone they dislike? I have no idea if James Woods is a “cocaine addict” but he sure is an extreme asshole.
Oh, and kinda creepy too.
I asked Ken White if he had anything to say about this and he replied:
It was a privilege to represent Abe Doe. He was passionate about many issues and a fierce and incisive debater, not afraid to mix it up with his own attorney. He challenged me just as easily as he challenged others. I was proud to help him fight a contemptible censorious lawsuit, and am very sad about his passing.
Update: And, of course, James Woods has now deleted many of those tweets I have above, but added a new one, attacking the lawyer, Lisa Bloom, for mentioning Abe’s death. You know, the one he was gloating over.
Another update: According to Eriq Gardner at THResq, despite Abe’s death, Woods and his lawyers are going to continue the case to try to unmask who Abe really was.
Filed Under: abe list, anonymity, anti-slapp, asshole, death, defamation, free speech, james woods, james woods is an asshole, slapp
Comments on “Actor James Woods Gloats Over Death Of Random Twitter Troll He Sued To Unmask [Updated]”
James Woods, the Left’s version of Drumpf.
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James Woods is a completely right wing conservative, FYI.
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James Woods is an ultraconservative, you clod.
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Why do you say he’s the left’s? We don’t want him. He also threw his support behind Fiorina, then Ted Cruz.
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I thought he was a democrat. I stand corrected. :/
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It’s also worth noting that Democrat != left wing. So, you were wrong on multiple levels.
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I don’t think there is a real “Left” in the “US”. What we call left is to the right of center on a real world scale.
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What you call “left” is right-of-right on the world stage.
What you call “right” is a terrifying ultracapitalist freakshow.
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You’ve expanded my horizons, Rightward. However, it would seem that capitalism got left in the dust back toward the center somewhere.
So, what’s left? 😉
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No, they’re not leftists. Call them what they are…communists.
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#BarronvonRobber,
Now I understand the political meanings of Left and Right. It is a term of approbation applied to those that you don’t like, and is simply the opposite of own perception of yourself.
These terms are used by human ants who follow the scent of the ant ahead of them even if it leads to the so called “spiral of death.”
Thank you for the illumination.
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You’e not really this brainless? He’s an extreme right winger who supports Trump fully. Pay attention.
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He’s conservative you dolt
Really?
“What kind of person would celebrate anyone’s death?”
You didn’t see my Facebook feed when Judge Scalia or Phyllis Schlafly died.
Re: Really?
So, you’re saying your Facebook friends list is one of those baskets we’ve all heard so much about?
Re: Really?
What the fuck is wrong with you?
Funny how sensitive you are to other people being an asshole, but then you’re a complete asshole to everyone you disagree with. Pot, kettle, black. Stay classy, Mikey.
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You are projecting so hard they can see it from space.
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You mean like you?
Who the fuck is James Woods. lol
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As far as I know, he was a guest star on Family Guy. Other than that I just assume he works at a bus station somewhere.
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An older less talented Nicolas Cage.
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He’s that guy who sued Sean Young for $2 million, accusing her of stalking him after they appeared together in the movie The Boost. Young countered that Woods had overreacted after she had spurned his advances on set, and was awarded $227,000 to cover her legal costs.
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Yeah, and her reputation was ruined after that. She was forever marred by the “stalking James Woods” thing, but was his career affected? No. This guy is scum.
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Some crack-head of little import.
Re: woods
Everyone should bomb James Woods twitter feed with “Are you crazy?” as much as possible. That was a re-occuring line in Once Upon A Time in America, and whenever DeNiro said it, he Woods’s character would freak out.
Start a movement!
Re: Who the fuck is James Woods?
I’m not sure…but they named my High School after him…
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Family guy has a rather well done portrayal of what a self centered asshole he is.
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Someone who put in some great performances in his early career (Videodrome, Salvador, Once Upon A Time In America, even Vampires) but like many great actors of his generation has descended into self-parody and questionable personal beliefs.
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What other actors in his generation and are there more in his generation than in other generations? Are we still dissing the baby boomers?
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Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have definitely devolved into self-parody, for example, while some actors such as Jon Voight and Gary Busey have definitely gone off the deep end in their personal/political lives.
I’m not sure how this compares to other generations, maybe I’m noticing it more because this is the generation of actors I grew up with and notice the trend through their whole career. But, give me the Woods of the 80s rather than this asshole any day.
Hope James Woods likes being made fun of
If this catches traction I think you will see a LOT more people making fun of him. Heck, I’m kinda tempted to go do it myself. Unfortunately my state is lacking any sort of anti-slapp law.
Re: Hope James Woods likes being made fun of
Use your states lack of anti-slapp for a good purpose and sue James Woods. He seems to find it perfectly fine to sue others with SLAPP suits, so having a few thousand per year should just tickle him pink.
Re: Hope James Woods likes being made fun of
i am guessing that woods revels in the attention, positive or negative…
never knew much about him, but he always SEEMED LIKE an arrogant, nasty slimeball… turns out that impression was correct…
It’s somewhat shocking that these people manage to remain famous and earning money. Because there are many Woods out there.
I can see now why this guy was cast as the god of death.
People in the throes of a cocaine frenzy will say just about anything to feel like they’ve “won”.
Does anyone know the origins of Woods’s high IQ myth?
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He measured it himself.
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…using a ruler graded in centimetres instead of inches
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I think it happened when someone left a decimal point out of it once.
Re: IQ Myth
Smart and asshole are not mutually exclusive
Shout out to @byyourlogic for making it into this article
CHAPO GREY WOLVES REPRESENT
Updates
If you’re just hanging out down in the comments and missed the updates, go check ’em out. Woods deleted his tweets and then mocked the lawyer for mentioning that the client had died. And, even worse, his lawyers have said he’s going to push forward on the lawsuit to reveal the name of the dead man.
Re: Updates
I was looking for updates at the top of the article, but I see them now down at the bottom of it.
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And, even worse, his lawyers have said he’s going to push forward on the lawsuit to reveal the name of the dead man.
Does the justice system allow such thing?
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Next he’ll be running for president. Does he grope women too?
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And if it is allowable, could it be disallowed if he’s doing it for malicious reasons? (Since his deleted tweets have been saved, they might be used to show that.)
Honestly, you’d think it would be better for him to be thought of as “James Woods the Crackhead” (which he denies) than as “James Woods the Shit Human Being” (which he’s proven).
James is a prick of epic proportions. What a disgusting human being.
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Careful there. Trump is turning being labelled “disgusting” or “nasty” into badges of honor.
pretty sure that if you are gloating over someones death, you may not be smoking crack, but you are definitely high on SOMETHING (possibly LSD?)
[Oh, and kinda creepy too.]
Very creepy.
Admit I have no clue who he is and after that, don’t wanna know.
… remind me never to watch anything he’s in.
Anonymous Coward
Thought James Woods was a decent actor until now but that is atrocious behavior from anyone. But considering he’s a celebrity with his level of reach, one would think his peers would see this and refuse to work with such a jack-nut.
I honestly can’t believe he continues to push forward legally. It obvious no one feels it would be a victory of any kind and is a total waste of time. That is no guy with a high IQ.
In my book and even knowing now, he’s Conservative, he belongs and needs to be seen in any list supporting Clinton. He would most likely accept $1500.00 to attend another public gathering to create chaos for the insane idiot Hilary Clinton. Considering the historical events following her, he would most likely end up dead and in a ditch somewhere.
Re: Anonymous Coward
James Woods is a decent actor, but apparently he wasn’t acting. He really is the slimeball he always played in movies.
Re: Anonymous Coward
You need a new book. Perhaps one that doesn’t require you to see everything through a political lens.
And one that doesn’t encourage embracing delusional conspiracy theories just because they reinforce your point of view.
What a dick.
Now I understand why he was a asshole character on family guy and the simpsons. He makes himself look like a pos. Nobody else has to.
Re: What a dick.
But a rich dick. So the courts indulge him.
Re: Re: What a dick.
Have a ‘Sad but true’/Insightful vote…
Having only have read his first tweet, I thought Woods was trying to deceive people into thinking that the John Doe had realized the futility of his fight, had given up and was waiting for Woods to steam-roller him. But in reality it’s worse that that. Ugh.
What if “Abe List” had made similar comments about someone other than Woods…perhaps a teen with depression…that eventually committed suicide as a result of being slandered in public…Would his actions have been okay then? Should the teen’s family be entitled to legal recourse? Why is it that it is considered “hate” in only one direction? Sounds like Abe started this…I doubt Woods sought out some unknown person to start a fight with. Yeah…Woods was less than gracious about the outcome…twitter does that to people. ….. the real asshole? This “Anonymous Coward” ???? is going with the guy that wrote the story, Mike Masnick
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Show us on the inflatable James Woods blow up doll where the bad man stuffed the cocaine into you…
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Who said anything about a blow-up doll or stuffing cocaine and into who? Apparently, there are comments being posted that aren’t showing up here on this particular strand because that shit is coming out of left field on this strand and it was pretty quiet reading until this conversation on what an “asshole” James Woods is but I don’t think that is the same person as the name on ANY High School because obviously he’s a prick.
That said, it does sound like an interesting conversation with subjects like blow-up dolls and people stuffing cocaine into someone. Earlier they stated that James Woods was calling people crack heads but that he was the one on cocaine. He certainly acts like he is on some sort of drug that is for sure. Especially if he is planning to continue to sue a person that has passed just so he can expose a persons name. A name that no one is interested in learning about. Apparently, Woods feels everyone is waiting in suspense for him to crack this unbreakable code or something. No one cares and his narcissistic psycho behavior is appearing to get worse…..like someone on heavy drugs!
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Who said anything about it? It would be me, because I can be quite an asshole.
I suggest reading the replies in threaded mode, it makes it much easier to follow.
Some douche decided Mike was the asshole for reporting on Mr. Woods unhinged behavior. Gloating when someone dies is bad form & trying to cast Mr. Woods as the poor target of evil vendettas shows signs of what to my untrained eye might be suggestive of cocaine abuse.
Inventing an inflatable James Woods blow up doll in my imagination was an entertaining picture taking on the the types of interviews for survivors of abuse asked to show where the bad man touched them.
While they debate it doesn’t exist, just imagine one impotent poster having Stockholm Syndrome flailing away trying to protect the image of James Woods ‘defending’ himself from a comment on the same level Mr. Woods levels at people regularly.
The lawsuit won’t get Mr. Woods anything except legal bills. The evil person who defamed him passed away, there is no money, and Mr. Woods celebrating the death confirms that perhaps he isn’t the most balanced person.
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No one did. Everyone admits that what Abe did was obnoxious. But it’s one thing to be an obnoxious troll on the internet, and another to sue the person for $10 million, try to unmask them, and then celebrate their death. If you can’t tell the difference, you’ve got issues.
That’s the whole point. Abe was an unknown person, with a tweet that almost no one saw, and Woods threw a hissy fit.
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No one knows why any individual actually commits suicide.
To make __________ stop. The “suicide as revenge” trope you’ve brought up here is about running out of reasons to live, so you’re taking the ______________ with you.
I’m fascinated by the subject and I’ve asked a lot of people who were either suicidal or who know suicidal people about their experiences. That is what they told me.
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Hi, James!
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Really? This is the hill you want to defend? This world-class asshole? The person who displayed a stunning level of hypocrisy in suing someone for doing something he himself did to others, and then gleefully celebrated the person’s death, followed by doubling-down on their assholeishness by continuing to sue and unmask the other, now dead person?
While sometimes things work out such that defending justice or fairness requires that you defend someone you don’t agree with or even are disgusted by there is nothing to defend here. You’ve got someone acting like jackass incarnate, for no other reason than he can, and this is the guy you want to defend?
Have fun with that.
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In the US this is called the first amendment protection. OK has nothing to do with it.
I don’t care if James Woods gloated over List’s death. Why not? He’s an asshole and he’s just acting the part. I’m sure a lot of people here gloated over Paul Duffy’s death. I’m one of them, and I’m also an asshole. Let’s not ride the high horse here, none of us is clean when it comes to gloating over our enemies’ misfortunes. I also gloated when Thatcher died, and I’m not even British. Gloating over dead people, anonymous or famous, is fine. We can be assholes, it’s not illegal.
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It is morally reprehensible though. To clarify I don’t celebrate when people I dislike die. There are probably quite a few like me in that way.
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Gloating over dead people, anonymous or famous, is fine. We can be assholes, it’s not illegal.
From the alt-text of Xkcd’s Free Speech:
I can’t remember where I heard this, but someone once said that defending a position by citing free speech is sort of the ultimate concession; you’re saying that the most compelling thing you can say about your position is that it’s not literally illegal to express.
He’d free to be an asshole to be sure, just like everyone is free to call him out for being an asshole(twice over in fact given he tried to turn his jackass comments to his benefit by deleting them and making it look like the lawyer was the sleazy one.)
"You’re free to say what you want" is not the same thing as "You’re free to say anything you want and not be called out on what you say."
Gloating
Want to see some real gloating over a person’s death? That will happen when James Woods gets the chauffeured ride to the dirt nap.
Of course he sucks so much that his gravesite will probably collapse on itself and become a sinkhole.
Mentally Addled, alleged cocaine addict, Clown-Boy James Woods, desperately trying to stay relevant in the 21st century, and failing.
My "Mel Gibson" List
…the one of actors whose work I will never watch, just got a little longer.
Who the fuck is james woods?
What kind of person would celebrate anyone's death?
What kind of person would celebrate anyone’s death?
Literally hundreds of “Americans” if not thousands, or even millions would, and did.
When LaVoy Finicum was killed while reaching for his dick (I guess it was his dick, a gun was never seen). Finicum was shot by the Oregon State Troopers at a joint road block with the FBI. A large group of commenters on RAW STORY went gleefully nuts celebrating and justifying his death.
I should explain that the group was egged on by RAWSTORY itself with the title of the article by, Bobby Azarian being, “LaVoy Finicum was a moron with a martyr complex — who died without becoming a martyr”.
The attackers would brook no interference. When I took them to task about the impropriety of their actions, including mentioning he still had a family and that I thought the “Patriots” were seriously misinformed, they began to viciously attack me in violation of several Terms of service on Raw Story. Eventually, I was the one who got banned for life from “Raw Story”!
Perhaps, I was banned because I described the group’s actions clearly. The group acted very much like hounds worrying a hunted animal’s carcass at the end of the hunt. Whatever, Americans take their disparaging and demonizing of the dead very seriously.
LaVoy Finicum died for his principles no matter how ill informed. He is still a martyr and I am still banned from Raw Story.
I’m starting to see how James Wood got the part of Hades in Hercules…
Fortunately James Woods is an extremely old, has-been with a dead career, a drunken(allegedly) perverted (allegedly) coke-addled (allegedly), crack-addicted(alleged) loser streak.
So he’ll be dead soon, which is nice.
A cousin to who?
James Woods was an actor.
You know actors are just acting most of the time…but it appears that he wasn’t at all. He means to be an asshole, and it’s the role of his life. He’s doing fine at it.
I wonder if he’s related to Donald Trump because it sounds like they share the same genetics.
I’m sure that he’ll be voting for Trump. Assholes are always attracted to pieces of shit posing as politicians.
But I repeat myself. (Forgive me, Mr. Twain..)
What other actors in his generation have descended into self parody and questionable personal beliefs? Are there more in his generation than in other generations. Are we still blaming baby boomers for…, whatever…
BTW – He was a great villain in “Contact”. I wonder if his politics changed after Salvador?
I don’t have a clue who this guy is. Must not be a good enough actor to meet my personal standards.
Re: Not a good enough actor...
He could have been too good.
One time I missed the opening credits of a major movie and Marlon Brando did such a great character that I did not recognize him until I saw the movie the second time. When the credits rolled and I saw Brando’s name I knew instantly the character he had played. The Movie was “The Formula”.
James Wood the asshole
So let me get this straight, it’s ok, and even encouraged, for liberals to be tacky and ruthless assholes (for it’s their !st Amendment right), but if a conservative does it, “OMG, they’re all such terrible people! They can’t do, or say, that!” Well, as my aunt used to say “What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander!”
Re: James Wood the asshole
It’s possible for both “sides” to be assholes, but the conservatives do seem to be the only ones being whiny persecuted bitches when the lens turns on their “side”. It’s interesting how you can’t just go “yeah, Woods is a dick”, you have to turn it into an attack on others.
But, hey, glad you could pitch in on this discussion from last year to let us know how thin skinned you are!
Woods is a legend.
Good on him not taking any bs from these internet idiot. Defamation without any evidence is a disease.