Terrell Owens was at his alma mater celebrating his new Amazon documentary about his life and career on Friday when he was served with a defamation lawsuit tied to a tweet earlier this summer surrounding the disappearance of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells.
Owens, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, demanded the arrest of three individuals who were with Wells when he disappeared in July. The star athlete was later found dead two days later. Following an investigation and multiple autopsies, a grand jury declined to indict anyone in connection with his disappearance and death.
Under Mississippi state law, the three individuals are considered minors because they are under 21.
The suit was filed Oct. 5 on behalf of the three teens by their fathers. According to attorney Edward Paltzik of Taylor Dykema PLLC, who is representing the teens, Owens had been evading being served with the lawsuit. During the event at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Paltzik chose what he called a time and place Owens “least expected” to be served: homecoming.
“No autograph required. Luck always runs out,” Paltzik wrote in a lengthy post on X.
On Sunday, two days after being served, Owens responded to a video of the incident on X.
“Hey Edward,” he began. “Not worried. God is good.”
In September, Owens posted on his X account his thoughts about an interview from “The Trent Out Loud Show” that was shared on Instagram. In the clip, the host said Mississippi Attorney General Angel Myers McIlrath knew that the teens “deleted things off of Nolan’s phone.”
“ARREST THEM IMMEDIATELY!!” Owens wrote. “LIKE YESTERDAY!!”
In a follow-up post on X, Owens gladly welcomed the suit. “I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL JUSTICE IS SERVED. #JUSTICEFORNOLANWELLS,” he wrote. “Hey Ed, you can’t save those kids and me saying what I said is freedom of speech.”
Owens has paid close attention to Wells’ case, previously offering $25,000 for information “leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.”
The teens have stated they’ve received death threats in connection with Wells’ disappearance and have been “refused service at public establishments” and have been inundated with harassment and “daily fear and ridicule from complete strangers.”
“Contrary to Owens’ defamatory X post, there was absolutely no evidence to prompt an arrest of the plaintiffs because they had done nothing wrong, and there was no probable cause to arrest plaintiffs because they had not committed a crime,” the suit reads.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages in this case and assert two counts: defamation per se and false light invasion of privacy.
