Video retrieved from The Young Turks
VV…
The guy who, without any provocation, verbally assaulted Bristol Palin by calling her mother a whore in this scene from Bristol’s reality series in which she falls off a mechanical bull, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Bristol and Lifetime. Hanks inserted himself into a scene into which he was not invited by yelling insults across the room and now wants to cash in on it. The timing of his move just before the premiere of the series and the man’s hatred for Governor Palin leads me to suspect that there is more to his actions than meet the eye. I strongly suspect there are political motivations as well as monetary ones.
From Ethan Sacks’ article at the New York Daily News:
The infamous altercation between Bristol Palin and a heckler has spilled out of the bar and into the courtroom.
Talent manager Stephen Hanks, who got in a heated exchange with the 21-year-old conservative scion after he lobbed insults about her mother, ex-GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin, at the Saddle Ranch bar in Los Angeles last September, filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against the country’s most famous single mom.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. federal court in Los Angeles because Hanks is seeking more than $75,000 in damages, also includes Lifetime — the network that is airing Bristol Palin’s upcoming reality television series, “Life’s a Tripp” — on the grounds that Hanks didn’t give them permission to film him during the incident, Reuters reported.
“Bristol Palin’s conduct was outrageous,” the lawsuit states, according to the wire service. “Bristol Palin first accused Plaintiff of ‘being a homosexual’ in a degrading manner in front of others.”
The exchange, which was caught on camera for her show, began with Hanks shouting out at Palin that her mother was “a whore,” after noticing the Wasilla, Alaska, native being thrown from the bar’s mechanical bull.
“Your mother’s the f–king devil,” Hanks can be heard yelling at the young Palin, after she confronted him and asked him to repeat the insult.
“Is it because you’re a homosexual,” Palin asked. A few seconds later she pointed to a male companion with Hanks and added, “that’s a nice wife you have there.” [Editor’s Note: Bristol said instead, “that’s your boyfriend, right?” Watch the video for the correct context.]
The exchange then degenerated into profanity from Hanks before Palin and her entourage left the bar.
Palin told In Touch Weekly in January that the confrontation was one of the reasons she decided to ditch California to return to her hometown in Alaska. “I wasn’t really into the Hollywood thing,” she told the celebrity glossy. “After that, I just realized that I was over it. I was ready to come home.”
UPDATE:
Ron Devito at US4Palin also reports that the Bob and Mark Show in Alaska came to Bristol’s defense on their radio program today:
Alaska’s Bob and Mark, who have been friends with the Palin family for over 16 years today defended Bristol Palin on their airwaves against deranged heckler Stephen Hanks, who had the unmitigated chutzpah to sue for her and Lifetime Networks for $75,000 for “defamation of character,” as is widely reported in many media reports today. Hanks claims he did not give permission to film him during an altercation with Bristol he initiated during which he insulted former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin – Bristol’s mother – calling her a “whore” and “the (expletive redacted) devil,” among other things.
Hanks’ claim that the incident was filmed without permission is bogus. TV cameras were there with Bristol when she entered the establishment, and Hanks was well aware of their presence. The talk show hosts also noted that Hanks is friends with Levi Johnston, who with the support of Rex Butler, Tank Jones, and the Roll Corporation has carried on a harassment campaign against the Palins. One could argue that Hanks probably likely had fore-knowledge that Bristol would be there.
[…]
Bob and Mark said the outpouring of support for Bristol – even among those who don’t like the Palins – has been nearly unanimous on their personal Facebook pages. Hanks thought he would score points with the left for his actions, but even leftists will not defend him – and rightfully so.