North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson sued CNN and co-defendant Louis Love Money for defamation following the network’s reporting about past behavior that dealt massive damage to his campaign. Robinson has asked to be awarded at least $50 million.
Robinson claims the harm to his political fortunes by the report, which detailed comments he made in a pornographic chatroom between 2008 and 2012, was deliberate. He alleges that it “appears to be a coordinated attack aimed at derailing” his campaign.
Louis Love Money, referred to simply as Money through the documents, is included in the lawsuit because he is the singer of the local punk band Trailer Park Orchestra. He and his band released a music video for their song “The Lt. Governor Owes Me Money” on Aug. 11, 2024, that Robinson believes shows “a man in a suit, wearing a generic rubber mask of a black man, intended to depict Lt. Gov. Robinson.”
The man “enters a pornography video store to view and purchase pornographic videos” and Money “repeatedly addresses the song to ‘Mark’ and to ‘Mr. Robinson,’ further identifying the subject as the ‘first black man’ to hold the title of lieutenant governor.” The song’s lyrics “falsely accuse” Robinson of “owing money for a ‘bootleg’ porn video that Defendant Money supposedly produced for him.”
Money was later interviewed about the video and that interview was the basis of CNN’s reporting on Robinson, the filing indicates. CNN published its own piece about Robinson on Sept. 19 that “falsely attributes statements allegedly made on a pornographic website, NudeAfrica.com, under the username ‘minisoldr’ as being authored by Lt. Gov. Robinson.”
Lawyers for Robinson sent a retraction demand to CNN on Oct. 1, the documents also state. The network refused his demand.
Despite Robinson’s claims that the reports are untrue, CNN reported he stated his full name and a frequently used email address on Nude Africa. Many of the comments appear to defy Robinson’s purported political stances now.
“I like watching tranny on girl porn,” he wrote. “That’s f–king hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in! And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!”
Robinson also admitted to spying on girl as they showered when he was 14. He also referred to himself as a “Black Nazi.”
The report on the comments led to a mass exodus of Robinson’s senior staff on Oct. 1. Those who left included chief of staff and general counsel Brian LiVecchi; policy director Jonathan Harris; director of communications John Wesley Waugh; and director of government affairs Nathan Lewis.
The scandal isn’t Robinson’s first. In July 2023 he told attendees at a far-right Moms for Liberty event, “Whether you’re talking about Adolf Hitler…It is time for us to get back and start reading some of those quotes.”
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