Shirley Sherrod Suing Andrew Breitbart For Damaging Her Reputation
We wouldn’t want to be Andrew Breitbart right about now.
That’s because Shirley Sherrod, the former Agricultural Department employee who was fired after Breitbart released a doctored video making her appear racist, is now suing him for damaging her reputation.
The video set off a media frenzy in July 2010, first as Sherrod lost her job and then as it was revealed that she was, in fact, telling a story about how she overcame racism to help a white farmer in need.
Breitbart has recently claimed that Sherrod was not fired because of his video but because of her part in the 11-year-old Pigford case, in which black farmers sued for discrimination against the Agriculture Department.
He stated such a claim again on Thursday in an interview with Media Matters, in which he admitted he had no proof of the assertion, revealing it was a theory.
Breitbart responded to Sherrod’s lawsuit Saturday with an online statement that said, in part:
“I find it extremely telling that this lawsuit was brought almost seven months after the alleged incidents that caused a national media frenzy occurred. It is no coincidence that this lawsuit was filed one day after I held a press conference revealing audio proof of orchestrated and systemic Pigford fraud. I can promise you this: neither I, nor my journalistic websites, will or can be silenced by the institutional Left, which is obviously funding this lawsuit. I welcome the judicial discovery process, including finding out which groups are doing so.”
